Section 7.23 Rules of Construction

• Library: Contracts 2016 Supp

B. (§7.23) Rules of Construction

Missouri courts have developed many rules of construction to guide in the interpretation and enforcement of contracts. These rules—or maxims—represent the principles courts have found helpful in determining a contract’s meaning in previous cases. In many situations, however, the rules of construction are of limited help because several may apply to the same contract (each producing a different result), and the courts have been unable to establish a consistent hierarchy of which rules have priority. Consequently, the rules of construction may best be considered as a set of arguments a litigant can use to advance a theory of the contract’s meaning.

The most common of...