Joyner v. Adams

Joyner (plaintiff) contracted with Brown, later substituted by Adams (defendant), to develop and lease her property as an office park under a base lease with rent that escalated annually under a price index. A later, renegotiated lease let Adams pay a fixed rent while developing the lots, but required him to pay under the original base-lease rate if he failed to fully develop the property by a specified date; by that date, Adams had developed all lots but one. Joyner sued for the difference between the fixed rent and base-lease rent; the trial court granted Adams summary judgment, which the court of appeals reversed and remanded for findings on the parties' actual intent, and the trial court, on remand, found the clause ambiguous, attributed its drafting to Adams, and construed it against him in Joyner's favor. Adams appealed again.