Court Opinion

ID: 9460373
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 21:48:15.085042+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:36:35.288450
License: Public Domain

KILKENNY, Circuit Judge
(dissenting) :
Keeping in mind that the legal services were completely performed, that the value of the services had been definitely determined and that only the payment of the $25,000.00 was postponed, I would hold that the language of Item 121 is sufficiently ambiguous to permit the introduction of parol evidence. In these circumstances, a trial is necessary in order to determine the situation and intention of the parties, their relation to the subject matter and the purpose to be accomplished by the language of the instrument. Closely in point is Noord v. Downs, 51 Wash.2d 611, 320 P.2d 632 (1958). Bank of America Nat’l Trust & Savings Ass’n v. Engleman, 101 Cal.App.2d 390, 225 P.2d 597, 599 (1950), cited with approval in Noord, is also in point. If a trial were had, the court might well resolve the ambiguity in favor of appellant’s contention that the language of the item was meant to fix a convenient time for payment and not for the purpose of embodying a condition limiting the liability of the appellee. The evidence might well convince the trier of the facts that if the language created a condition, it was one which appellee, in effect, warranted would occur and assumed the risk of its non-occurrence. Noord, supra, p. 615 of 51 Wash.2d, 320 P.2d 632.
Appellant’s rights under the agreement should be ascertained from a fair and reasonable construction of the language used in the light of all the surrounding circumstances when the parties executed the contract. Conditions precedent are not favored and the courts will not construe stipulations as conditions precedent unless required to do so by plain, unambiguous language. United States v. Schaeffer, 319 F.2d 907, 911, (CA 9, 1963), cert. denied 376 U.S. 943, 84 S.Ct. 798, 11 L.Ed.2d 767 (1964).
Since, in my opinion, this is not a proper case for the entry of a summary judgment, Adickes v. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970), I would reverse and direct a trial in conformity with the principles stated in Noord.

. “Mr. Wyman shall pay to Wilbur E. Dow, Jr., attorney for Mrs. Wyman, an attorney’s fee of $25,000, said payment to be made in full when the said Idaho divorce decree is granted.”