Jenkins v. Martin Law Offices, LLP

32 Pa. D. & C.5th 331, 2013 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 417
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Chester County
DecidedAugust 26, 2013
DocketNo. 2011-08960
StatusPublished

This text of 32 Pa. D. & C.5th 331 (Jenkins v. Martin Law Offices, LLP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Chester County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jenkins v. Martin Law Offices, LLP, 32 Pa. D. & C.5th 331, 2013 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 417 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2013).

Opinion

TUNNELL, J.,

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Plaintiff David Jenkins was employed as an associate of the firm of Martin Law Offices, LLP (“Martin”) pursuant a written offer dated January 17, 2006.

2. The offer letter was drafted by defendant Martin.

3. Although a subsequent formal written employment agreement was envisioned, none was ever created.

4. Under the agreement, Jenkins was to be paid a salary of $1,200 per week.

5. The agreement specified that his employment was “at will”.

6. The agreement further specified that “You will be required to bill a minimum of thirty (30) hours of client work per week.”

7. In fact, in the two years that Jenkins worked for Martin, he never hit his minimum billing of 30 hours a week of client work.

8. Jenkins did all the client work given to him by Martin.

9. Jenkins maintained detailed billing records for both client work and firm (i.e. non-billable) work which he regularly turned over to Mr. Aaron Martin.

10. Mr. Aaron Martin used those records in order to [333]*333generate bills to clients for Mr. Jenkins’ time.

11. On those occasions when he would write Mr. Jenkins’ time down and not bill it, he ordinarily gave Jenkins full credit for that time.

12. Martin never disciplined or reprimanded Jenkins for poor performance, nor for underbilling.

13. For the initial weeks of Jenkins’ employment, he was paid $ 1,200 even though no hours had yet been billed.

14. Well into Jenkins’ employment, for the period of February 19, 2007 to March 2, 2007, Jenkins’ billing report (Exhibit D-l), when analyzed, demonstrates that he billed some 7.8 hours of client work over two weeks.

15. The payroll records produced by Martin (Exhibit P-4) for the same time period report that Jenkins’ gross earnings were $2,400 for that same two-week time period.

16. When Jenkins was not fully paid his weekly salary, the actual reason was Martin’s cash flow problems.

17. The court does not credit the defendant’s testimony that the decreased sums paid to Jenkins were the result of an intentional adjustment to his salary by reason of his under-billing.

DISCUSSION

The parties do not dispute that their contractual relationship is governed by a letter dated January 17, 2006 that was sent to Mr. Jenkins. They disagree about the effect of the first two paragraphs, and further whether the same were subsequently modified. The salient parts of those two paragraphs are as follows:

[334]*334This letter will confirm that Martin Law Offices, LLP (“the Firm”) has extended an offer to employ you as an associate of the Firm at the gross rate of compensation of one thousand two hundred dollars ($1,200) per week subject to provisions to be memorialized in a subsequent formal, written employment agreement. Such agreement shall include, without limitation, the exertion of your exclusive and best efforts for the Firm and non-competition for the duration of your employment with the Firm.
You will be required to bill a minimum of thirty (30) hours of client work per week.

There was no subsequent formal contract.

Mr. Jenkins had no hourly work of his own. He testified that he performed all of the client work that the defendant requested he perform, that he was never disciplined or reprimanded for poor performance or substandard work, and that he kept track of his billable and non-billable time, which he turned over to Mr. Martin. He argues that their agreement did not expressly condition his right to receive his salary on any minimum billing requirement.

Mr. Aaron Martin testified that under the parties’ agreement plaintiff was required to bill a minimum of 30 hours per week in order to be paid his salary of $1,200 per week. He testified that Mr. Jenkins substantially underperformed by not billing anything close to 30 hours a week of client work. For that reason, the defendant says it did not compensate the plaintiff at the rate agreed upon. Mr. Aaron Martin testified that Mr. Jenkins acquiesced without protest. This conduct, Martin contends, shows that the parties modified the terms of the written agreement.

[335]*335Questions that arose in the court’s mind during trial included whether, if Mr. Jenkins billed more than 30 hours a week would he be entitled to additional compensation, unanswered by the contract, and whether there really was any relationship at all between salary and billing. It would seem illogical if Mr. Jenkins could bill zero hours for two months and expect to be paid his weekly salary of $1,200 but, again, the contract itself is indefinite on this. On the other hand, the relationship was at will. Ultimately, as several telltale pieces of parol evidence came in, the court concluded it could resolve the ambiguity.

Contemporary contract law generally provides that a contract is enforceable when the parties reach a mutual agreement, exchange consideration and have outlined the terms of their bargain with sufficient clarity. Com. Dept. of Transportation v. First Pennsylvania Bank, 77 Pa. Cmwlth. 551, 466 A.2d 753 (1983). An agreement is sufficiently definite if the parties intended to make a contract and there is a reasonably certain basis upon which a court can provide an appropriate remedy. Linnet v. Hitchcock, 324 Pa. Super. 209, 214, 471 A.2d 537, 540 (1984). The paramount goal of contractual interpretation is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the parties. Burns Mfg. Co., Inc. v. Boehm, 467 Pa. 307, 313, 356 A.2d 763, 766 (1976). Where the language of a written contract is clear and unequivocal, its meaning must be determined by its contents alone. Mears, Inc. v. National Basic Sensors, 337 Pa. Super. 284, 289, 486 A.2d 1335, 1338 (1984). If there is some ambiguity in the contract, a court may examine the surrounding circumstances to ascertain the intent of the parties. Kennedy v. Erkman, 389 Pa. 651, 655, 133 A.2d 550, 552 (1957). Furthermore, if it is asserted that part [336]*336of a contract is oral, the court may also in that situation examine the surrounding circumstances to determine the parties’ intent. Westingthouse Electric Co. v. Murphy, Inc., 425 Pa. 166, 171-72, 228 A.2d 656, 659 (1967). Courts wish to effectuate the parties’ intentions, and for that reason they may enforce an indefinite contract if its terms become definite as the result of partial performance; one or both parties may perform in such way as to make definite that which was previously unclear. Murray On Contracts, Section 51-52 (1974).

The course of the parties’ performance under a contract is always relevant in interpreting that contract. Atlantic Richfield Co. v.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Herr Estate
161 A.2d 32 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1960)
Sun Co. (R&M) v. Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
708 A.2d 875 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1998)
Mears, Inc. v. National Basic Sensors, Inc.
486 A.2d 1335 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1985)
Linnet v. Hitchcock
471 A.2d 537 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1984)
Burns Manufacturing Co., Inc. v. Boehm
356 A.2d 763 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1976)
Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Razumic
390 A.2d 736 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1978)
Kennedy v. ERKMAN
133 A.2d 550 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1957)
Matthews v. Unisource Worldwide, Inc.
748 A.2d 219 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2000)
Westinghouse Electric Co. v. Murphy, Inc.
228 A.2d 656 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1967)
Commonwealth v. First Pennsylvania Bank, N. A.
466 A.2d 753 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1983)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
32 Pa. D. & C.5th 331, 2013 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 417, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jenkins-v-martin-law-offices-llp-pactcomplcheste-2013.