SR International Business Insurance Co. v. World Trade Center Properties, LLC

While final property-insurance policies covering the World Trade Center were still being negotiated between the Silverstein Parties (defendants) and various insurers (plaintiffs), the September 11 attacks destroyed both towers, and the parties disputed whether temporary binder terms covering the interim period treated the attacks as one "occurrence" or two, entitling the Silverstein Parties to up to $3.5 billion per occurrence; at trial, witnesses testified about their subjective understanding of the negotiated terms, with the jury given a limiting instruction that uncommunicated subjective understanding could not itself define the contract's meaning.