Dismissal of Action against Five Individuals.
I successfully dismissed a law suit against five individuals in a business matter. The issue centered on a contractor’s claim that the individuals agreed to guarantee the debt of a corporation if that corporation failed to pay the contractor. The agreement in question expressly provided that if the corporation failed to pay the contractor, then an affiliated company and a single member of the corporation would guarantee payment. The five individuals never agreed to guarantee the debt if the corporation didn’t pay. However, the contractor claimed that the mere fact that the individuals signed the agreement was enough for them to be obligated to guarantee the debt and pay it.
I vigorously argued that the agreement unambiguously stated who the guarantors were and none of the five individuals were expressly named as guarantors. Therefore, although they signed the agreement, they were still not obligated to pay for any potential debts of the corporation as they did not expressly agree to guarantee the debt. The Court agreed with me by holding that the agreement was unambiguous as to who guaranteed the debt and found that the individuals were not obligated for the any potential debt pursuant to the agreement. They are now completely out of the case.
