Four corners (law)

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The Four Corners Rule is a legal doctrine that courts use to determine the meaning of a written instrument such as a contract, will, or deed as represented solely by its textual content. The doctrine states that where there is an ambiguity of terms, the Court must rely on the written instrument solely and cannot consider extraneous evidence.

Contents

Contract interpretation

In contract interpretation, the Four Corners Rule refers to a common law doctrine dating back to old English courts that requires the court to resolve contractual disputes based on the words contained in the disputed contract.

The four corners doctrine is similar to the parol evidence rule, which prohibits a contracting party from introducing evidence separate from the contract that would change fundamentally the intended understanding as written in the contract. However, the Four Corners Doctrine prohibits a party from introducing evidence to interpret an unambiguous term. [1]

The doctrine requires a court to discern what the contracting parties intended by using the whole document; no cherry picking. Most commercial contracts contain a clause entitled either "Merger", "Integration", or "Entire Agreement". In this clause, there would usually be language indicating that the parties' understanding of the other provisions of the contract are contained within the four corners of the same. Many modern contracts have taken it further to state that the entire agreement is contained within the agreement and that the agreement supersedes all prior understandings.

In some jurisdictions, including the US, the rule is controversial, and courts apply it with different degrees of force. [2]

Examples

An integration clause (merger clause) can express that the agreement is complete and fully integrated.

Case law

The following is an incomplete list of examples where courts used the Four Corners Doctrine while interpreting the disputed-document:

  1. From the four corners of the document: as derived from the text of the agreement itself, without relying upon other resources or witnesses.
    • "Absent ambiguity, the parties’ intentions must be discerned from the four corners of the document, and extrinsic evidence may not be considered." [3]
    • "Construction of a deed is a matter of law, and the intention of the parties is to be gathered from the four corners of the instrument." [4]
  2. Looking at the four corners of the will: examining and analyzing the will.
    • "It is evident to us, from looking at the four corners of the will, ..." [5]
  3. Determining whether to suppress evidence recovered and whether it was covered in the warrant.
    • "This Court has interpreted the above constitutional and statutory provisions of this State to mean just what they clearly state, and by doing so has characterized its interpretation by calling it the "four corners" rule or doctrine of law." [6]
    • "We granted defendant's application for certiorari, 600 So. 2d 617 (La.1992), primarily to consider the rulings of the lower courts in the light of the "four corners" doctrine pronounced by this court in State v. Wells, 253 La. 925, 221 So. 2d 50 (1969)." [7]
  4. Deed interpretation.
    • "This case involves construction of a deed through which a mineral interest was conveyed. The language within the deed's "four corners" was construed by the chancery court as unambiguous, and this Court affirms." [8]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parol evidence rule</span> Common law rule relating to contracts

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<i>G. L. Christian and Associates v. United States</i> 1963 United States Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) court case

G.L. Christian and Associates v. United States is a 1963 United States Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) court case which has become known as the Christian Doctrine. The case held that standard clauses established by regulations may be considered as being in every Federal contract. Because the FAR is the law, and government contractors are presumed to be familiar with the FAR, a mandatory clause that expresses a significant or deeply ingrained strand of public procurement policy will be incorporated into a Government contract by operation of law, even if the parties intentionally omitted it.

<i>Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher</i>

Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher [2011] UKSC 41 is a landmark UK labour law and English contract law case decided by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, concerning the scope of statutory protection of rights for working individuals. It confirmed the view, also taken by the Court of Appeal, that the relative bargaining power of the parties must be taken into account when deciding whether a person counts as an employee, to get employment rights. As Lord Clarke said,

the relative bargaining power of the parties must be taken into account in deciding whether the terms of any written agreement in truth represent what was agreed and the true agreement will often have to be gleaned from all the circumstances of the case, of which the written agreement is only a part. This may be described as a purposive approach to the problem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African contract law</span> Law about agreements between two or more parties

South African contract law is "essentially a modernized version of the Roman-Dutch law of contract", and is rooted in canon and Roman laws. In the broadest definition, a contract is an agreement two or more parties enter into with the serious intention of creating a legal obligation. Contract law provides a legal framework within which persons can transact business and exchange resources, secure in the knowledge that the law will uphold their agreements and, if necessary, enforce them. The law of contract underpins private enterprise in South Africa and regulates it in the interest of fair dealing.

The term course of dealing is defined in the Uniform Commercial Code as follows:

A "course of dealing" is a sequence of conduct concerning previous transactions between the parties to a particular transaction that is fairly to be regarded as establishing a common basis of understanding for interpreting their expressions and other conduct.

<i>Arnold v Britton</i>

Arnold v Britton[2013] EWCA Civ 902 is an English contract law case on implied terms.

References

  1. Four Corners Rule definition
  2. Silverstein, Joshua M. (2021). "The Contract Interpretation Policy Debate: A Primer". Stanford Journal of Law, Business & Finance. 26: 222.
  3. KY Supreme Court 2007-CA-000498
  4. KY Supreme Court 1995-CA-001813
  5. KY Supreme Court 1996-CA-000833
  6. Adkins v. State, 717 S.W.2d 363 (1986) Texas
  7. State v. Barrilleaux, 620 So. 2d 1317 (1993) Louisiana
  8. Pursue Energy Corp. v. Perkins, 558 So. 2d 349 (1990) Mississippi