Court Opinion

ID: 9466921
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 01:32:34.126611+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:40:02.579272
License: Public Domain

SNEED, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent.
The district court in ordering arbitration under the old contract explicitly indicated that he was deciding only one legal issue, viz., the effective date of the second contract. II. R.T. 8. In holding that the effective date was December 5,1977, the district court said “. . . the acceptance was not of the precise offer made and the contract did not arise because the offeror made clear that it was not going to accept the different acceptance and insisted on precise acceptance of its second and modified offer. And the precise acceptance of the second and modified offer was not forthcoming until December 5th; which thus, in my view, would be the effective date of the second contract.” Id. at 11. In my opinion the district court is correct. A recital of basic contract doctrines is not necessary to support this conclusion. It is enough to observe that selecting the time at which from the chrysalis of negotiations emerges a legally binding contract evades scientifically precise determination, although all admit it must be guided by the manifested intent of the parties. I cannot say the majority is wholly wrong; I simply think the district court was more nearly right. In any event, the district court had a greater exposure to the facts than has this court. For this reason we should be reluctant to overturn its holding.