Cases—Interpretation—Posner goes beyond the four corners

The pricing and payment structure of a contract is relevant to determining the agreement of the parties, says Judge Richard Posner in a new decision from the Seventh Circuit, applying Illinois law.

A software development agreement calling for a large “base” payment with much smaller fees for each subsequent “line of business” application supports the claim that the developer committed itself to delivering more than one application, even though the contract named only one.  The text of the opinion is here.