Opinion ID: 199631
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Interpretation of the 1998 Settlement Agreement

Text: 21 Under Maine law, whether contract language is ambiguous is a question of law to be decided by the court. Lidstone v. Green, 469 A.2d 843, 846 (Me. 1983). A contract is ambiguous when the language is reasonably susceptible of different interpretations. Id. (quoting Portland Valve, Inc. v. Rockwood Sys. Corp., 460 A.2d 1383, 1387 (Me. 1983)) (internal quotations omitted). Ambiguity is to be determined from the perspective of an ordinary or average person. Nautilus Ins. Co. v. Jabar, 188 F.3d 27, 30 (1st Cir. 1999) (finding that a pollution exclusion clause was ambiguous as to whether it excluded only environmental pollution or also fumes discharged by products used by insured); American Employers' Ins. Co. v. DeLorme Publ'g Co., Inc., 39 F. Supp. 2d 64, 76-77, 82 (D. Me. 1999) (finding that the word misappropriate was not ambiguous and citing its ordinary meaning). 22 The district court determined as a matter of law that the 1998 Settlement Agreement was unambiguous because it was reasonably susceptible to only one interpretation: it released St. Paul from liability for all claims against the MPM Law Firm and its employees, including those against Murray in his of counsel status. The 1998 Settlement Agreement provides that the Releasors (appellants): release, acquit, and forever discharge John C. Lightbody, Peter L. Murray, Murray, Plumb & Murray. . . and its insurer, St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company (hereinafter the Releasees), of and from any and all claims, causes of action, or actions which any of the Releasors has against any of the Releasees, except as provided below. The release then states: 23 the Releasors expressly reserve and do not release any and all claims, causes of action, or actions against Peter L. Murray, Peter L. Murray Law Offices, and their insurer, Zurich-American Insurance Company, with respect to any acts or omissions committed or performed by him in his legal representation of the Releasors, or any of them, from the date of May 1, 1993 to the present.... 24 (emphasis added). 25 Appellants argue that, although the district court's understanding is one reasonable interpretation of the 1998 Settlement Agreement, it is not the only reasonable interpretation, so that the contract language should be found to be ambiguous. Appellants assert that the 1998 Settlement Agreement released St. Paul, except for any claims that may be made against Murray, in any of his capacities, arising on and after May 1, 1993. Appellants claim that the word and in the reservation to the release means or, see Black's Law Dictionary 110 (3d ed. 1933), so that the 1998 Settlement Agreement reserves all claims, arising on or after May 1, 1993, that could be made against Peter Murray, Murray Law Offices, or Zurich. Under this interpretation, appellants did not release Peter Murray, regardless of the capacity in which he was working, from any claims arising on or after May 1, 1993. Thus, appellants insist they have a valid claim against St. Paul for actions arising from Murray's of counsel role on or after May 1, 1993. 26 Appellants' proffered interpretation of the 1998 Settlement Agreement, however, is not reasonable. And is not an ambiguous term. Although and might, in rare circumstances, be construed to mean or, see Black's Law Dictionary 86 (6th ed. 1990), to the ordinary or average person and means and. And, in its conjunctive sense, also appears to be the plain meaning in the 1998 Settlement Agreement. 27 Moreover, if appellants had intended to explicitly reserve claims after May 1, 1993 against Murray in his of counsel capacity (as insured by St. Paul), then appellants should have either included St. Paul in the exception to the general release, or have circumscribed the general release as it relates to claims insured by St. Paul. When verbal acrobatics are required to reach the interpretation of the settlement asserted by the appellants, we cannot say that the language is reasonably susceptible of different interpretations. Lidstone, 469 A.2d at 846 (emphasis added). A contract need not negate every possible construction of its terms in order to be unambiguous. Waxler v. Waxler, 458 A.2d 1219, 1224 (Me. 1983) (finding that a divorce settlement agreement, which did not specifically provide or exclude a set-off against spousal payments, was unambiguous and clear on its face). Therefore, the district court properly determined that the 1998 Settlement Agreement, which was clear on its face, was unambiguous. 28 When a contract is unambiguous, the interpretation of such contract is left to the court. Lidstone, 469 A.2d at 846. The court must construe the unambiguous language in accordance with its plain and generally accepted meaning. Id. The 1998 Settlement Agreement provides that all claims against Peter Murray or the MPM Law Firm that are insured by St. Paul are released, and that appellants only reserved claims against Peter L. Murray, Peter L. Murray Law Offices, and their insurer Zurich (emphasis added). In accordance with the plain conjunctive meaning of and, appellants reserved only those claims against Peter Murray, arising out of his work as an attorney for Murray Law Offices, for which he was insured by Zurich. Thus, under the unambiguous language of the 1998 Settlement Agreement, all claims against Peter Murray in his of counsel capacity, since these would be insured by St. Paul, were released. 29