Patriot Power, LLC v. New Rounder, LLC, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-027-17)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 16-P-420 Appeals Court PATRIOT POWER, LLC[1] vs. NEW ROUNDER, LLC, & another.[2] No. 16-P-420. Middlesex. December 8, 2016. – March 13, 2017. Present: Kafker, C.J., Grainger, & Sullivan, JJ. Declaratory Relief. Practice, Civil, Declaratory proceeding, Burden of proof, Instructions to jury. Contract, Lease of real estate, Condition, Termination. Landlord and Tenant, Termination of lease. Real Property, Lease. Notice. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on March 24, 2014. The case was tried before Bruce R. Henry, J. Mark C. O’Connor (Douglas S. Denny-Brown also present) for the plaintiff. Robert F. Feeney for the defendants. KAFKER, C.J. The issue presented in this declaratory judgment and breach of contract action is which party bears the burden of proof at trial regarding the exercise of a termination option in a lease. The plaintiff, Patriot Power, LLC, doing business as MandaShan Enterprises, was the landlord in a commercial lease; the defendant New Rounder, LLC, was the tenant, and the defendant Concord Music Group, Inc., was the guarantor (we refer to the defendants collectively as tenant). The lease provided that it would automatically renew each year unless either party timely notified the other that it wished to exercise a termination option in the lease. In the instant case, the landlord filed a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment that the tenant had not effectively terminated the lease, and asking for one year’s rent plus consequential damages. The tenant answered and counterclaimed, seeking a declaratory judgment that it had properly notified the landlord of its intention to terminate. The landlord sought a pretrial ruling that the tenant had the burden of proof at trial on the issue of whether it sent a lease termination letter before the nonrenewal deadline. A judge denied the motion, ruling that as the “moving party,” the landlord bore the burden to prove it did not receive the termination letter on time. At trial, a different judge instructed the jury in accordance with the pretrial ruling. The landlord objected to this instruction. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the tenant. On appeal, the landlord contends that the trial judge’s burden of proof instruction was erroneous and prejudicial.[3] We conclude that the tenant had the burden to prove it fulfilled the termination option requirements outlined in the […]
Patriot Power, LLC v. New Rounder, LLC, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-027-17)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 16-P-420 Appeals Court PATRIOT POWER, LLC[1] vs. NEW ROUNDER, LLC, & another.[2] No. 16-P-420. Middlesex. December 8, 2016. – March 13, 2017. Present: Kafker, C.J., Grainger, & Sullivan, JJ. Declaratory Relief. Practice, Civil, Declaratory proceeding, Burden of proof, Instructions to jury. Contract, Lease of real estate, Condition, Termination. Landlord and Tenant, Termination of lease. Real Property, Lease. Notice. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on March 24, 2014. The case was tried before Bruce R. Henry, J. Mark C. O’Connor (Douglas S. Denny-Brown also present) for the plaintiff. Robert F. Feeney for the defendants. KAFKER, C.J. The issue presented in this declaratory judgment and breach of contract action is which party bears the burden of proof at trial regarding the exercise of a termination option in a lease. The plaintiff, Patriot Power, LLC, doing business as MandaShan Enterprises, was the landlord in a commercial lease; the defendant New Rounder, LLC, was the tenant, and the defendant Concord Music Group, Inc., was the guarantor (we refer to the defendants collectively as tenant). The lease provided that it would automatically renew each year unless either party timely notified the other that it wished to exercise a termination option in the lease. In the instant case, the landlord filed a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment that the tenant had not effectively terminated the lease, and asking for one year’s rent plus consequential damages. The tenant answered and counterclaimed, seeking a declaratory judgment that it had properly notified the landlord of its intention to terminate. The landlord sought a pretrial ruling that the tenant had the burden of proof at trial on the issue of whether it sent a lease termination letter before the nonrenewal deadline. A judge denied the motion, ruling that as the “moving party,” the landlord bore the burden to prove it did not receive the termination letter on time. At trial, a different judge instructed the jury in accordance with the pretrial ruling. The landlord objected to this instruction. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the tenant. On appeal, the landlord contends that the trial judge’s burden of proof instruction was erroneous and prejudicial.[3] We conclude that the tenant had the burden to prove it fulfilled the termination option requirements outlined in the […]