Syme v. Symphony Grp. LLC , 437 P.3d 576 ( 2018 )


Menu:
  •                         
    2018 UT App 212
    THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS
    AL SYME AND MARTHA SYME,
    Appellants,
    v.
    SYMPHONY GROUP LLC,
    Appellee.
    Opinion
    No. 20170531-CA
    Filed November 8, 2018
    Second District Court, Ogden Department
    The Honorable Ernest W. Jones
    No. 160901978
    Richard H. Reeve, Attorney for Appellants
    Robert E. Mansfield and Megan E. Garrett, Attorneys
    for Appellee
    JUDGE JILL M. POHLMAN authored this Opinion, in which
    JUDGES GREGORY K. ORME and RYAN M. HARRIS concurred.
    POHLMAN, Judge:
    ¶1     Al and Martha Syme met with Symphony Group LLC
    to discuss the construction of a custom home. The parties signed
    a contract, but the Symes cancelled it before construction
    began. Symphony, however, retained the Symes’ earnest
    money and construction deposits. The Symes sued to
    recover both deposits, and Symphony moved for summary
    judgment, which the district court granted. The Symes appeal.
    We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further
    proceedings.
    Syme v. Symphony Group
    BACKGROUND 1
    ¶2      In the spring of 2015, the Symes met with representatives
    of Symphony about the construction of a new, custom home in
    Layton, Utah. The parties signed a written contract (the
    Agreement) on June 1, which set forth the basic details of the
    house Symphony was to construct, including its location, price,
    and floor plan. Some of the details, such as the color and type of
    brick, countertops, and floor coverings, were left to be selected in
    future meetings. The Agreement also set forth the obligations of
    each party and provided for specific remedies in the event of a
    breach.
    ¶3     As part of the house’s purchase price, the Symes agreed to
    pay Symphony an earnest money deposit of $2,000 (the Earnest
    Money) and a construction deposit of $43,000 or $48,000 (the
    Construction Deposit). 2 The Symes delivered the Earnest Money
    to Symphony when they signed the Agreement. They delivered
    a $48,000 Construction Deposit to Symphony at a subsequent
    “Structural Review Meeting.” 3
    1. “In reviewing a district court’s grant of summary judgment,
    we view the facts and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom
    in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and recite the
    facts accordingly.” Ockey v. Club Jam, 
    2014 UT App 126
    , ¶ 2 n.2,
    
    328 P.3d 880
     (quotation simplified).
    2. The Agreement states that the Construction Deposit was to be
    $43,000, but in the summary judgment briefing and on appeal
    both parties refer to a $48,000 Construction Deposit.
    3. We note an ambiguity in the Agreement regarding the timing
    of the Construction Deposit. In one provision, the Agreement
    required the deposit to be paid at the “Structural Review
    Meeting.” In another provision, the Agreement required the
    deposit to be paid at the “Color Selection Meeting.” The Symes
    (continued…)
    20170531-CA                     2                
    2018 UT App 212
    Syme v. Symphony Group
    ¶4     Regarding the house’s financing, the Agreement required
    the Symes “to receive written evidence of loan pre-approval
    within ten (10) days from” Symphony’s acceptance of the
    Agreement, “or such longer period as [Symphony], in its sole
    discretion may allow.” The same provision stated that if the
    Symes failed “timely to provide such loan approval to
    [Symphony],” then Symphony could elect to terminate the
    Agreement. If Symphony elected to terminate the Agreement
    under this provision, the Agreement required Symphony to
    return the Earnest Money to the Symes unless they were in
    default. 4
    ¶5     Another provision in the Agreement required the Symes
    to deliver to Symphony a loan pre-approval letter “prior to or
    at” the “Color Selection Meeting”—a meeting the Symes were
    required to attend at Symphony’s “reasonable request.” If the
    Symes failed to deliver the loan pre-approval letter as required
    by this provision, Symphony could, “in its sole and reasonable
    discretion,” deem the Symes “in default” and enforce its
    remedies “as allowed by [the] Agreement and Utah law,
    including but not limited to, [Symphony’s] retention of [the]
    Earnest Money and Construction Deposit.”
    ¶6     The Color Selection Meeting never took place. According
    to the Symes, they “waited in vain” for Symphony to “follow
    (…continued)
    contend that they provided the Construction Deposit at the
    Structural Review Meeting only because Symphony told them
    “it was conditionally required at that point.” We need not
    resolve this ambiguity and express no opinion on the timing of
    the payment.
    4. The Agreement also required the Symes “to pursue [loan]
    application diligently.” If the Symes failed to apply for a loan, a
    liquidated damages clause allowed Symphony to terminate the
    Agreement and retain the Earnest Money.
    20170531-CA                     3               
    2018 UT App 212
    Syme v. Symphony Group
    through on [the Color Selection Meeting]” or “request [the
    pre-approval letter].”
    ¶7      Before construction started or any other meetings were
    held, the Symes sent a letter to Symphony through their attorney
    purporting to cancel the Agreement. The Symes conceded in the
    letter that they would have to forfeit their $2,000 Earnest Money
    but requested the return of their Construction Deposit. Because
    the Symes did not deliver the pre-approval letter and “failed to
    finalize other preconstruction selections at the Color Selection
    Meeting,” Symphony refused to return the Construction
    Deposit.
    ¶8     The Symes brought suit for the return of the Earnest
    Money and Construction Deposit, seeking a declaration that no
    contract existed and, alternatively, seeking damages for breach
    of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and
    fair dealing. Symphony moved for summary judgment on each
    claim.
    ¶9      The district court granted Symphony’s motion. It
    concluded that there was an enforceable contract between the
    parties and determined that the Symes would be unable to prove
    their breach of contract claim because the Symes themselves
    breached the Agreement by failing to provide the pre-approval
    letter “within 10 days of acceptance of the contract.” The court
    reasoned that “[e]ven if the [Color Selection Meeting] never took
    place, [the Symes] were still required by the contract to provide
    the pre-approval letter.” The court also concluded that the
    Symes would be unable to prove their implied covenant of good
    faith and fair dealing claim. At the heart of that claim was the
    Symes’ contention that the liquidated damages clause
    Symphony relied on to retain the Earnest Money and
    Construction Deposit was unconscionable. The court concluded
    that “expert testimony would be required” to establish
    unconscionability and that the Symes would be unable to prove
    20170531-CA                    4               
    2018 UT App 212
    Syme v. Symphony Group
    their claim because they had conceded they “would be
    precluded from offering expert testimony at trial.” 5 Thus, the
    court entered final judgment in favor of Symphony. The Symes
    timely appeal.
    ISSUE AND STANDARD OF REVIEW
    ¶10 The Symes’ arguments on appeal all flow from the district
    court’s summary judgment decision. Summary judgment is
    appropriate “if the moving party shows that there is no genuine
    dispute as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled
    to judgment as a matter of law.” Utah R. Civ. P. 56(a). “An
    appellate court reviews a district court’s legal conclusions and
    ultimate grant or denial of summary judgment for correctness
    and views the facts and all reasonable inferences drawn
    therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.”
    ZB, NA v. Crapo, 
    2017 UT 12
    , ¶ 11, 
    394 P.3d 338
     (quotation
    simplified).
    ANALYSIS
    I. The Enforceability of the Agreement
    ¶11 The Symes first contend that the district court erred in
    granting summary judgment to Symphony on their claim
    for declaratory relief because there were disputed facts material
    to the question of whether a contract was formed. In support,
    they make three related arguments: first, that the Agreement is
    5. In its summary judgment motion, Symphony sought to
    exclude the Symes from offering expert testimony because the
    time to disclose experts had passed under rule 26(a)(4) of the
    Utah Rules of Civil Procedure. In response, the Symes admitted
    that the deadlines to designate experts had expired and asserted
    that expert testimony was unnecessary.
    20170531-CA                     5              
    2018 UT App 212
    Syme v. Symphony Group
    too indefinite to be enforced; second, that the parties never
    intended the Agreement to be the final agreement; and finally,
    that the Agreement is ambiguous. We address each argument in
    turn.
    A.    Contract Formation
    ¶12 The Symes assert that the Agreement is too indefinite to
    be an enforceable contract because it is “silent as to much of the
    work that [was] to be performed by Symphony.” Without
    specifying “exterior materials,” “interior finishes,” and the
    “types of countertops, cabinets, shingles, lighting fixtures, or
    appliances” that were to be used in the construction of their
    house, the Symes assert that the Agreement “cannot be
    performed.”
    ¶13 “Whether a contract exists between parties is ordinarily a
    question of law . . . .” Cea v. Hoffman, 
    2012 UT App 101
    , ¶ 9, 
    276 P.3d 1178
    . “A binding contract exists where it can be shown that
    the parties had a meeting of the minds as to the integral features
    of the agreement and that the terms are sufficiently definite as to
    be capable of being enforced.” ACC Capital Corp. v. Ace West
    Foam Inc., 
    2018 UT App 36
    , ¶ 12, 
    420 P.3d 44
     (quotation
    simplified). “A contract may be enforced even though some
    contract terms may be missing or left to be agreed upon, but if
    the essential terms are so uncertain that there is no basis for
    deciding whether the agreement has been kept or broken, there
    is no contract.” Nielsen v. Gold’s Gym, 
    2003 UT 37
    , ¶ 12, 
    78 P.3d 600
     (quotation simplified).
    ¶14 Here, the Agreement is capable of being enforced because
    it includes all the essential terms of a valid contract. The
    Agreement was signed by both the Symes and Symphony, it
    listed the specific price of the property and the address, and it
    set forth additional terms regarding the work and the parties’
    relationship and respective obligations. While some contract
    terms, such as the color of the countertops and other materials
    selections, were “left to be agreed upon,” see 
    id.
     (quotation
    20170531-CA                     6               
    2018 UT App 212
    Syme v. Symphony Group
    simplified), this fact does not demonstrate that there was no
    meeting of the minds on the contract’s essential terms. Rather,
    the parties expressly contemplated that additional selections
    would be made, and they agreed on the process for making
    those selections. 6 Thus, the Agreement includes sufficient detail
    as to be “capable of being enforced,” and the district court did
    not err in concluding there was a valid contract. See ACC Capital,
    
    2018 UT App 36
    , ¶ 12 (quotation simplified).
    B.     The Parties’ Intentions
    ¶15 The Symes relatedly argue that the Agreement “was not
    intended, by itself, to be a final contract between the parties” and
    that the district court failed to recognize the existence of a factual
    dispute about the parties’ intentions. In support, they again
    highlight that the Agreement contemplated future meetings and
    they refer to unsigned documents, such as additional exhibits
    and design addenda that, once completed, would “finalize the
    contract between the Symes and Symphony.” Anticipating these
    future meetings and documents, the Symes assert that they “did
    not intend for the [Agreement] to serve as the contract with
    Symphony and considered themselves as being still engaged in
    the contract formation process.” We are not persuaded.
    ¶16 The Symes’ arguments regarding the parties’ intentions
    largely rehash their argument that the contract was too
    indefinite to be enforced and needed more details. See supra Part
    I.A. As explained, the parties agreed to the “essential terms” of
    the Agreement, and the anticipation of future meetings to select
    6. The Agreement provided default terms for the construction,
    and the Symes were able to select options and upgrades from
    among Symphony’s offerings, subject to Symphony’s approval.
    The Symes therefore could select from a finite universe of
    options, but the house would be constructed based on the
    default terms absent further selections with Symphony’s
    approval.
    20170531-CA                      7                
    2018 UT App 212
    Syme v. Symphony Group
    finishes does not demonstrate that the parties did not intend the
    Agreement to be enforceable. The Agreement set forth the
    parties’ obligations and their remedies in the event of a breach.
    That the parties anticipated future activities as set forth in the
    Agreement does not demonstrate an intent that the obligations
    they undertook were unenforceable. 7 See Barker v. Francis, 
    741 P.2d 548
    , 551 (Utah Ct. App. 1987) (“It is not necessary . . . that
    the contract itself contain all the particulars of the agreement.
    The crucial factor is that the parties agreed on the essential
    elements of the contract.”); see also Leopold v. Kimball Hill Homes
    Fla., Inc., 
    842 So. 2d 133
    , 136–38 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2003)
    (determining that a contract for a custom house was enforceable
    because, while “the buyer [and seller] had the right to make
    modifications to the plans as construction proceeded,” the
    parties “did in fact have a meeting of the minds as to the
    essential terms of the contract”); Augusta Homes, Inc. v. Feuerstein,
    No. COA08-1456, 
    2009 WL 2501399
    , at *4–6 (N.C. Ct. App. Aug.
    18, 2009) (similar). See generally Restatement (Second) of
    Contracts § 34 cmt. a (Am. Law Inst. 1981) (“If the agreement is
    otherwise sufficiently definite to be a contract, it is not made
    invalid by the fact that it leaves particulars of performance to be
    specified by one of the parties.”).
    C.     Ambiguity
    ¶17 The Symes contend that the district court erred in
    granting summary judgment on the Symes’ contract formation
    claim because, they argue, the Agreement is “facially
    7. The Symes also argue that the district court failed to properly
    account for the alleged dispute created by Al Syme’s declaration
    that the Symes and Symphony “never fully finalized all
    components of the [Agreement].” But Al Syme’s assertion
    simply mirrors the arguments made and addressed above,
    namely, that because certain materials selections remained to be
    made under the Agreement, the Agreement was incomplete and
    unenforceable.
    20170531-CA                      8               
    2018 UT App 212
    Syme v. Symphony Group
    ambiguous” and thus “ambiguous as to the intent of the
    parties.” 8 The Symes’ argument fails for two reasons.
    ¶18 First, we disagree that the Agreement is ambiguous in the
    way the Symes assert. The Symes’ ambiguity argument is
    premised on their contention that the Agreement “contains a
    facial ambiguity as to the [construction] completion deadline.” In
    one provision, Symphony is allowed “180 days from the
    commencement of [excavation] on the home” to substantially
    complete construction. In another provision, the Agreement
    provides that Symphony “shall make a reasonable effort to have
    the House substantially complete . . . within eight (8) months
    after” issuance of a building permit. The Symes assert these
    provisions create a facial ambiguity as to the completion date for
    construction and argue that “[t]o resolve the issue of ambiguity
    of intent, the district court would need to hear and receive
    factual evidence, which it was precluded from doing in the
    context of a motion for summary judgment.”
    ¶19 These two provisions do not create ambiguity. “A
    contractual term or provision is ambiguous if it is capable of
    more than one reasonable interpretation because of uncertain
    meanings of terms, missing terms, or other facial deficiencies.”
    Daines v. Vincent, 
    2008 UT 51
    , ¶ 25, 
    190 P.3d 1269
     (quotation
    8. Symphony contends that the issue of ambiguity is
    unpreserved. They assert that “[t]he Symes never briefed
    ambiguity in their opposition to Symphony’s [motion for
    summary judgment]” and therefore failed to preserve the issue.
    While the Symes’ memorandum in opposition to summary
    judgment was short and did not discuss ambiguity, the Symes’
    attorney at the hearing did reference the “facial inconsistency
    within the document itself” and discussed the provisions
    regarding the two construction deadlines. Therefore, we
    conclude the issue is preserved and reach the Symes’ argument
    on the merits. See generally True v. Utah Dep’t of Transp., 
    2018 UT App 86
    , ¶¶ 23–30, 
    427 P.3d 338
    .
    20170531-CA                     9               
    2018 UT App 212
    Syme v. Symphony Group
    simplified). “Harmonizing conflicting or apparently ambiguous
    contract language before concluding that provisions are actually
    ambiguous is an important step in the hierarchy of rules for
    contract interpretation.” Gillmor v. Macey, 
    2005 UT App 351
    , ¶ 19,
    
    121 P.3d 57
    . “To harmonize the provisions of a contract, we
    examine the entire contract and all of its parts in relation to each
    other and give a reasonable construction of the contract as a
    whole to determine the parties’ intent.” 
    Id.
     (quotation
    simplified). And harmonizing the two provisions here is simple:
    Symphony was given 8 months from the issuance of a building
    permit and 180 days (or 6 months) from excavation to
    “substantially complete” the house. The Symes do not explain
    how these provisions are inconsistent or otherwise ambiguous. It
    seems to us entirely possible that both deadlines could be
    honored by securing a building permit and then, within two
    months, beginning excavation.
    ¶20 Second, even if we were to discern some facial ambiguity
    in these two provisions, the Symes do not explain how that
    ambiguity would undermine the finality of the Agreement in its
    entirety. Instead, the Symes merely assume that an ambiguity in
    the terms of the Agreement relating to a construction deadline
    demonstrates an ambiguity as to the parties’ overall intent
    regarding the finality and enforceability of the Agreement. We
    fail to see the connection. If there were an ambiguity as to the
    construction deadline, a court would take extrinsic evidence as to
    the deadline—that is, did the parties mean eight months or six
    months. See, e.g., Holladay Bank & Trust v. Gunnison Valley Bank,
    
    2014 UT App 17
    , ¶¶ 22–23, 
    319 P.3d 747
     (concluding that a
    contract was ambiguous “regarding the allocation of collateral
    proceeds” and remanding to the district court to consider
    extrinsic evidence “as to the parties’ intent with regard to the
    distribution of the proceeds” (emphasis added)). It would not
    become a basis to deem the entire Agreement unenforceable.
    Thus, we conclude that the two provisions are not necessarily
    ambiguous, and even if they were, the ambiguity would not
    undermine the Agreement’s overall enforceability.
    20170531-CA                     10               
    2018 UT App 212
    Syme v. Symphony Group
    ¶21 In sum, we conclude that the Agreement is sufficiently
    clear and capable of being enforced. Accordingly, the district
    court did not err in granting summary judgment on the Symes’
    declaratory judgment claim.
    II. The Alleged Breach of Contract
    ¶22 The Symes next contend that summary judgment on their
    breach of contract claim was inappropriate because, assuming
    there was an enforceable contract, a factual dispute existed about
    whether the Symes breached the Agreement by failing to
    provide Symphony with the loan pre-approval letter. The Symes
    argue that the district court disregarded the fact that the Symes
    “waited in vain” for Symphony and that Symphony “never
    followed through with or completed the Color Selection
    Meeting.” (Quotation simplified.) Not only did the district court
    disregard these facts, according to the Symes, but the court “also
    failed to draw inferences from them” in the Symes’ favor. The
    Symes assert that the district court “could have reasonably
    inferred that the Symes were not in breach because the [Color
    Selection Meeting] never occurred and, thus, the time for
    submittal of the pre-approval letter never arrived.” Under this
    view of the facts, the Symes argue that they were not in
    breach and could have proven that Symphony breached the
    Agreement.
    ¶23 To prove a breach of contract claim, a party must
    demonstrate its own performance of the contract. Bair v. Axiom
    Design, LLC, 
    2001 UT 20
    , ¶ 14, 
    20 P.3d 388
     (“The elements of a
    prima facie case for breach of contract are (1) a contract,
    (2) performance by the party seeking recovery, (3) breach of the
    contract by the other party, and (4) damages.”), abrogated on other
    grounds as recognized in A.S. v. R.S., 
    2017 UT 77
    , 
    416 P.3d 465
    .
    “Whether a party performed under a contract or breached a
    contract is a question of fact.” iDrive Logistics LLC v. IntegraCore
    LLC, 
    2018 UT App 40
    , ¶ 43, 
    424 P.3d 970
    . And as stated, at the
    summary judgment stage we “view[] the facts and all reasonable
    inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the
    20170531-CA                     11               
    2018 UT App 212
    Syme v. Symphony Group
    nonmoving party.” ZB, NA v. Crapo, 
    2017 UT 12
    , ¶ 11, 
    394 P.3d 338
     (quotation simplified).
    ¶24 It is undisputed that the Symes did not deliver the
    pre-approval letter to Symphony. But it is also undisputed that
    the Color Selection Meeting had not yet occurred. Viewing the
    facts and the reasonable inferences drawn therefrom in the light
    most favorable to the Symes, Symphony never followed through
    with the Color Selection Meeting and never otherwise requested
    the pre-approval letter. And the district court’s conclusion that
    “[e]ven if the [Color Selection Meeting] never took place, [the
    Symes] were still required by the [Agreement] to provide the
    pre-approval letter” is contradicted by the Agreement itself,
    which provides that the Symes had until the Color Selection
    Meeting—which never occurred—to deliver the pre-approval
    letter.
    ¶25 The district court appears to have conflated the Symes’
    obligation to deliver the pre-approval letter to Symphony at
    the Color Selection Meeting with their obligation to receive
    written evidence of loan pre-approval within ten days of
    Symphony’s acceptance of the Agreement. The Symes have
    not disputed that they never applied for a loan, but under the
    Agreement that failure would amount to a forfeiture of only
    the Earnest Money. For Symphony to keep the Construction
    Deposit, as relevant here, the Symes would have to fail to deliver
    the pre-approval letter by the Color Selection Meeting. And
    the Symes could not possibly have failed to deliver the pre-
    approval letter by the Color Selection Meeting because that
    meeting never occurred, and (according to the Symes) its non-
    occurrence was Symphony’s fault. Thus, viewing the facts in
    the light most favorable to the Symes, the court erred in
    determining that the Symes, having not delivered the pre-
    approval letter, could not prove that Symphony breached the
    Agreement by retaining the Construction Deposit. Therefore,
    summary judgment in favor of Symphony on that basis was
    inappropriate.
    20170531-CA                    12              
    2018 UT App 212
    Syme v. Symphony Group
    ¶26 Having rejected the conclusion that the Symes’ failure to
    deliver the pre-approval letter barred their breach of contract
    action, we turn to Symphony’s request to affirm the district court
    on an alternative basis. Symphony argues that the district court
    concluded not only that the Symes failed to perform but that
    they “have not shown that [Symphony] . . . breached the
    [Agreement].” Because the Symes have not addressed “this
    second, and conclusive, basis” for the dismissal of their breach of
    contract claim, Symphony argues that the district court’s
    decision should still be affirmed. But the grounds for this
    alternative basis are unclear. The district court did not discuss
    the undisputed facts or the relevant legal authority behind its
    conclusory statement that the Symes “have not shown that
    [Symphony] . . . breached the contract.” Instead, the statement
    appears as an aside, meant apparently for emphasis, to its
    primary conclusion that the Symes breached the Agreement by
    not delivering the pre-approval letter. Having concluded that the
    district court’s reasoning was erroneous, and “unable to discern”
    any other “legal or . . . factual basis for the district court’s
    dismissal on this ground,” we decline to affirm on this
    alternative basis and remand for further proceedings. See Vander
    Veur v. Groove Entm’t Techs., 
    2018 UT App 148
    , ¶ 37 (quotation
    simplified), petition for cert. filed, Sept. 10, 2018 (No. 20180730).
    III. Good Faith and Fair Dealing
    ¶27 Finally, the Symes contend that the district court erred in
    dismissing their claim for breach of the implied covenant of
    good faith and fair dealing. In their complaint, the Symes
    asserted that, among other things, the Agreement’s liquidated
    damages clause violates the covenant of good faith and fair
    dealing because it is unconscionable. In resisting the district
    court’s grant of summary judgment on this claim, the Symes
    raise two arguments on appeal. First, they argue that “summary
    judgment was the inappropriate place for the court to even try to
    address . . . unconscionability.” Second, they argue that the
    district court incorrectly assumed that expert testimony was
    required to establish unconscionability.
    20170531-CA                     13               
    2018 UT App 212
    Syme v. Symphony Group
    ¶28 We conclude the Symes have not carried their burden of
    persuasion on appeal on these arguments. “It is well established
    that an appellate court will decline to consider an argument that
    a party has failed to adequately brief.” CORA USA LLC v. Quick
    Change Artist LLC, 
    2017 UT App 66
    , ¶ 2, 
    397 P.3d 759
     (quotation
    simplified). To satisfy its burden of persuasion, an appellant
    must provide “reasoned analysis” on how the district court
    erred and “may not simply dump the burden of argument and
    research on the appellate court.” Hi-Country Estates Homeowners
    Ass’n v. Jesse Rodney Dansie Living Trust, 
    2015 UT App 218
    , ¶ 5,
    
    359 P.3d 655
     (quotation simplified).
    ¶29 On their first argument, the Symes provide no authority
    for the proposition that the question of unconscionability can
    never be decided on summary judgment. Instead, they claim that
    the facts presented and “an analysis of the outcome of [the]
    Agreement . . . should have been sufficient for the district court
    to postpone its analysis of substantive unconscionability to a fact
    finding hearing.” While the Symes point generally to documents
    in the record, they do no more to develop the argument. Without
    pointing to some authority and developing their argument based
    on that authority, the Symes cannot meet their burden of
    persuasion on appeal.
    ¶30 Similarly, on their second argument, the Symes assert in a
    single conclusory paragraph that the district court “erred in
    determining that expert opinion was required.” The district
    court grounded its decision to require expert testimony on the
    supreme court’s opinion in Commercial Real Estate Investment, LC
    v. Comcast of Utah II, Inc., 
    2012 UT 49
    , 
    285 P.3d 1193
    . There, the
    court    explained      that    determining     the   substantive
    unconscionability of a liquidated damages clause requires an
    examination of “the mores and business practices of the time
    and place” of the contract. Id. ¶ 44 (quotation simplified).
    Because the Symes stipulated that “they would be precluded
    from offering expert testimony at trial,” the district court
    concluded that without an expert to testify about the relevant
    “mores and business practices,” the Symes would “have no way
    20170531-CA                    14               
    2018 UT App 212
    Syme v. Symphony Group
    of proving that the liquidated damages clause is
    unconscionable.” Other than arguing that “part of the
    unconscionability analysis could proceed without expert
    opinion,” the Symes make no reasoned analysis of the district
    court’s decision. Therefore, we conclude that the Symes have not
    carried their burden of persuasion on appeal, and we will not
    reverse the district court on this basis.
    CONCLUSION
    ¶31 We conclude that the Agreement is a valid and
    enforceable contract and the district court did not err in granting
    summary judgment on the Symes’ claim for declaratory relief.
    We also conclude that the Symes have not carried their burden
    of persuasion on their argument that the court erred in granting
    summary judgment on their implied covenant of good faith and
    fair dealing claim. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s
    decisions with regard to the Symes’ claim for declaratory relief
    and their alternative claim for breach of the implied covenant of
    good faith and fair dealing. But we agree with the Symes that
    summary judgment on their breach of contract claim was
    inappropriate. We therefore reverse the grant of summary
    judgment on that claim and remand for further proceedings
    consistent with this opinion.
    20170531-CA                    15               
    2018 UT App 212