Court Opinion

ID: 9479218
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 07:11:43.318623+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:46:53.482742
License: Public Domain

SPROUSE, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. I believe that Kline’s contract claim is not barred by Maryland’s Statute of Frauds. Kline testified that, based on his experience in the industry and his prior dealings with Lorillard, the reference to “direct basis” in the letter to Kline from Lorillard meant he could purchase all his requirements from Loril-lard on open credit terms. The jury apparently accepted this evidence and answered “Yes” to the interrogatory: “Has the plaintiff proved that the parties entered into a contract whereby the defendant promised to supply the plaintiff with its reasonable requirements on open credit terms?”
Accepting, as we must, Kline’s testimony, Maryland’s prerequisites for a requirements contract have been met. This is demonstrated by a fuller quotation from Cavalier Mobile Homes v. Liberty Homes, 53 Md.App. 379, 395, 454 A.2d 367, 377 (1983) in which the Maryland Court of Special Appeals indicated that the statute of frauds is satisfied “where the quantity term is not numerically stated, ... some writing ... indicates that the quantity to be delivered under the contract is a party’s requirements.” The jury, with a proper instruction and with the benefit of Kline’s testimony about the language in the letter, specifically found that the letter expressed Lorillard’s agreement to meet Kline’s requirements. I agree, therefore, with the district court that there simply is no reason to disturb that jury finding.
With regard to Kline’s Robinson-Patman claim, I believe that the principles concerning credit restrictions are controlled by Catalano, Inc. v. Target Sales, Inc., 446 U.S. 643, 648, 100 S.Ct. 1925, 1928, 64 L.Ed.2d 580 (1980) (per curiam), in which the United States Supreme Court stated:
It is virtually self-evident that extending interest-free credit for a period of time is equivalent to giving a discount equal to the value of the use of the purchase price for that period of time. Thus, credit terms must be characterized as an inseparable part of the price.
The general application of this proposition is illustrated by the Court’s application of *801Catalano in the federal gift tax context in Dickman v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 465 U.S. 330, 337-38, 104 S.Ct. 1086, 1091, 79 L.Ed.2d 343 (1984). This principle, when applied to the present case, requires that the credit restrictions imposed by Lorillard on Kline be viewed as equivalent to it charging a higher price.
Finally, I disagree with the majority’s assessment of the district court’s admission of Lilly Ann Gordon’s expert testimony on behalf of Kline. The evaluation made by the majority was more properly made by the district court.
Because I believe that the jury’s calculation of damages on both the contract and Robinson-Patman claims was insufficiently supported by the evidence, I would remand for a new trial on contract damages and Robinson-Patman damages.