Kyundibekyan

BACKGROUND

Following a five-day court trial, the court issued its written statement of decision in this matter. The trial court’s statement contains a summary of the evidence offered at trial; it is the only record of much of that evidence. Although the court trial of this matter involved 10 witnesses, appellants provided a reporter’s transcript of the testimony of Reese and Phillips only, a clerk’s transcript, and a joint appendix of recreated trial exhibits. We rely on the trial court’s statement for much of the background details of this appeal. As the trial court in this case aptly summarized in its written statement of decision: “This case boils down to an attempted sale of a marginally profitable business by a seller who was eager to sell, to an unsophisticated buyer who did not exercise due diligence; and a failure to agree on a material term of the agreement, i.e. the extent of the cooperation and assistance by the seller that would be contractually required to transition ownership.”

3 This case has its origins in early 2016, when appellants learned that Reese wanted to sell ABC. She planned to attend medical school. Reese’s son Phillips ran the finances for the company.…