A majority of the Delaware Supreme Court recently ruled that a settlement agreement contained an enforceable obligation to negotiate in good faith with the goal of reaching a separate definitive contract within the parameters outlined in the settlement agreement–although the court recognized that such a contractual obligation did not assume that a definitive agreement would necessarily be reached.

In Cox Communications, Inc. v. T-Mobile, Inc., Del. Supr., No. 340, 2021 (March 3, 2022), Delaware’s High Court explained both basic principles and sophisticated nuances of Delaware contract law that should be required reading for anyone who needs the know the latest iteration of Delaware law on this topic, especially in the context of preliminary or transitional agreements that contemplate a more comprehensive second-stage agreement.

Why This Decision Is Noteworthy:

A common situation where familiarity with this decision will be required is when a lawsuit is settled after a long day of mediation and basic terms are signed while all the parties are present, or otherwise available, to confirm the terms of a settlement–but a more complete, formal agreement is contemplated. One lesson that this decision teaches is to make certain that the abbreviated memorialization of essential terms is expressly stated to be enforceable, in the event a more formal, comprehensive agreement is never finalized. This, of course, applies beyond settlement agreements–for example, in the context of any deal where essential terms are agreed upon before a more comprehensive, formal agreement is completed (assuming the parties may want to enforce those essential terms, which may not always be the case.)

Key issue:

The expedited appeal in this case turned on the interpretation of a single provision in a settlement agreement and whether it should be construed as either: (i) an unenforceable “agreement to agree”, or (ii) an enforceable “Type II preliminary agreement” requiring the parties to negotiate in good faith.

Basic Background Facts

Cox and Sprint signed a settlement agreement in 2017 that resolved litigation between the parties. T-Mobile later purchased Sprint. Section 9(e) of that settlement agreement contained a sentence that was the crux of the dispute over contract interpretation that the Court decided. The disputed provision provided that:

Before Cox or one of its Affiliates (the “Cox Wireless Affiliate”), begins providing Wireless Mobile Service (as defined below), the Cox Wireless Affiliate will enter into a definitive MVNO agreement with a Sprint Affiliate (the “Sprint MVNO Affiliate”) identifying the Sprint MVNO Affiliate as a “Preferred Provider” of the Wireless Mobile Service for the Cox Wireless Affiliate, on terms to be mutually agreed upon between the parties for an initial period of 36 months (the “Initial Term”).

T-Mobile, as the successor to Sprint’s rights in the settlement agreement, argued that the above language required Cox to enter into an agreement with it for a term of 36 months before it could provide wireless services with any other carrier. On the other hand, Cox read the above provision to merely require it to negotiate in good faith to “try” to reach an agreement. The Court of Chancery agreed with T-Mobile’s view of the provision. The Supreme Court did not.

Basic Principles and Nuances of Delaware Contract Law Underscored

  • Delaware adheres to an objective theory of contracts. See footnotes 47-48.
  • Extrinsic evidence is only considered if the text is ambiguous. n.49.
  • A contract provision is “not rendered ambiguous simply because the parties in litigation differ as to the proper interpretation.” n.51.
  • When a provision “leaves material terms open to future negotiations” as the High Court found Section 9(e) did, it is “a paradigmatic Type II agreement” of the kind we recognized in SIGA v. PharmAthene. n.52. (That Supreme Court decision and related decisions were highlighted on these pages.)
  • Unlike the old, superseded view that an incomplete agreement was not enforceable, Delaware recognizes that “parties may make an agreement to make a contract…if the agreement specifies all the material and essential terms including those to be incorporated in the future contracts.” n.53.
  • Delaware recognizes two types of enforceable preliminary agreements: Type I and Type II.
  • Type I agreements reflect a “consensus on all the points that require negotiation” but indicate the mutual desire to memorialize the pact in a more formal document. n.55. Type I agreements are fully binding.
  • Type II agreements exist when the parties “agree on certain major terms, but leave other terms open for future negotiation.” n.56 Type II agreements “do not commit the parties to their ultimate contractual objective but rather to the obligation to negotiate the open issues in good faith.” n.57.

Selected Excerpts of Court’s Reasoning

  • The Supreme Court read Section 9(e) to leave open a number of essential terms, such as price, which barred it from being categorized as a Type I agreement. n.60. That is, it specifically contemplates a future “definitive” agreement and provides that open terms will be “mutually agreed upon between the parties”–though it is not completely open-ended. Practice note:  If the parties want a settlement agreement to be a Type I binding agreement–as compared to an agreement to negotiate in good faith–a fair observation based on the Court’s decision in this case is to avoid the reference to a future “definitive” agreement, and make sure to include essential terms such as price.
  • Type II agreements do not guarantee the parties will reach agreement on a final contract because “good faith differences in the negotiation of the open issues may preclude final agreement.” n.63
  • The provision at issue in this case did not include a promise to do anything other than negotiate in good faith–which is where the Supreme Court parted ways with the Court of Chancery’s post-trial ruling. See also n.71 ( explanation of why the majority  parted ways with the dissenting justices in this case, and did not think it was necessary to address extrinsic evidence.)
  • The Court’s reasoning including diagramming of the sentence in the disputed provision to parse the syntax and structure of the language at issue, by identifying the single subject, single verb, and singled object–as well as which clause modified the predicate and which clause modified the object.
  • The quality or quantify of consideration in a contract should not be second-guessed. n.86. Moreover: “obligations to negotiate in good faith” are recognized in Delaware as “not worthless”. n.81.

Postscript: A candid observation that reasonable people can differ on these contract issues is buttressed by the fact that the brightest legal minds in Delaware who decide what the law is in Delaware were not unanimous in their view of the law as applied to the facts of this case. That is, three members of the Delaware Supreme Court saw it one way, two members of that High Court saw it another way, and a member of the Court of Chancery arguably viewed the law as applied to the facts of this case in a third way.