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Contracts: It pays to have Johns, Flaherty & Collins on your side

An area business recently learned firsthand the difference it can make to have Johns, Flaherty & Collins on its side.

Many years ago, the business leased commercial space to another company. At that time, the lease payments were based on a variable interest loan, and interest rates were climbing. Two years later, the landlord refinanced the loan to lock in a more reasonable fixed interest rate that would save money for all parties involved, including the tenant.

When that tenant built its own building more than ten years later, it wanted out of the lease agreement and sued the landlord for a declaratory judgment releasing it from the agreement - claiming the change in the landlord's loan rates more than a decade earlier nullified the contract. The landlord hired Johns, Flaherty & Collins attorneys Terry Collins and Cheryl Gill to protect its interests.

The case turned out to be more than a simple contract dispute involving a single lease agreement. Through a series of other arrangements among the parties, six or seven companies were involved in the relationship over the years, and three separate contracts were relevant to the dispute. The dispute centered on an interpretation of the contract terms to determine what the parties may have intended when the contract was originally signed.

Terry and Cheryl filed a countersuit and eventually worked through the complex issues of the case. Ultimately, Terry and Cheryl settled the case before trial - obtaining lost rental payments and the cost of repairing the building for their client - and thereby, avoided expensive court costs and delays. The tenant did not win declaratory judgment against Johns, Flaherty & Collins' client; instead, it paid a substantial amount of money to make things right.