Bradshaw v. Burningham
Utah Supreme Court
671 P.2d 196 (1983)
Bradshaw (plaintiff) contracted to drill a well for Burningham (defendant) for $35 per foot, with a higher $50-per-hour rate if drilling problems slowed the work. After hitting a buried metal object and having to drill a replacement well elsewhere, the parties signed a compromise agreement setting payment for the failed first well at a flat $6,300, expressly stating the original contract would control except where the compromise changed it. When Burningham didn't pay, Bradshaw sued seeking damages under the original contract's higher rates instead of the $6,300 figure; the trial court held the compromise agreement bound both parties and awarded $6,300, and Bradshaw appealed.
Whether a party may sue to enforce the original terms of a contract when a later compromise agreement was a modification of that contract rather than merely an executory accord offering a second payment option.