Pacific Dock & Terminal Co. v. Los Angeles Dock & Terminal Co.

This action was brought by the appellant, hereinafter referred to as the Pacific Company, assignee of D. M. Reynolds, to compel the conveyance to it of 75 acres of land in the Long Beach Harbor district, and to have the court determine the amount of money by way of damages that should be paid by the appellant to the defendant Pacific Southwest Trust & Savings Bank, hereinafter referred to as the Trust Company, for the appellee, the Los Angeles Dock & Terminal Company, hereinafter referred to as the Los Angeles Company, as a condition precedent to such conveyance in view of the admitted breach of an agreement by the appellant to construct a blast furnace for the manufacture of pig iron upon or adjacent to such land and within the city of Long Beach.

The principal question involved in the case is the proper construction of the terms of a separate agreement accompanying the delivery in escrow of a deed of such land from the appellee, Los Angeles Company, to the Trust Company, in the light of contemporaneous agreements between the parties and of surrounding circumstances. The trial court was very liberal in permitting evidence of oral and written negotiations between the parties…