Cited by

Sherman, 152 N.H. at 120-23 (reviewing the language of a contract de novo and concluding that the panel erred when it considered extrinsic evidence because the contract was not ambiguous); see also Turcotte v. Griffin, 120 N.H. 292, 294-95 (1980).

Turcotte v. Griffin, 120 N.H. 292, 294, 415 A.2d 668 (1980) (upholding a trial court's use of the rules of contract interpretation when interpreting a lease which contained an option to purchase).

The parties have offered no principled reason for departing from *248 this settled approach simply because we are faced with language purporting to create “rights of first refusal.” Cf. Turcotte v. Griffin, 120 N.H. 292, 294 (1980) (upholding a trial court’s use of the rules of contract interpretation when interpreting a lease which contained an option to purchase).

An award may be vacated for plain mistake when it is determined that an arbitrator misapplied the law to the facts.

Turcotte v. Griffin, 120 N.H. 292, 295, 415 A.2d 668, 670 (1980) (court correctly set aside arbitrator’s award because arbitrator mistook law “on the vital point of which parcel of land described in the lease was the object of the option to purchase”).

Turcotte v. Griffin, 120 N.H. 292, 294-95, 415 A.2d 668, 669 (1980); KECO Industries, Inc. v. AFC Industries Incorporated, 316 F.2d 513, 516 (4th Cir. 1963).

Because a lease is a contract whose terms must be interpreted according to contract law, Turcotte v. Griffin, 120 N.H. 292, 294, 415 A.2d 668, 669 (1980), the resolution of any question regarding the meaning of the lease is a question which is for the trial court to decide in the first instance, and is essential before this court can determine on appeal whether the evidence introduced at trial was sufficient to show that the defendant br

In order for a contract to be formed there must be a meeting of the minds as to the terms thereof.

Co. v. Bell, 121 N.H. 127, 129, 427 A.2d 27, 28 (1981) (court found plain mistake where the law changed after the arbitrator’s decision); Turcotte v. Griffin, 120 N.H. 292, 295, 415 A.2d 668, 670 (1980) (arbitrator’s incorrect application of the law to the facts of the case constituted plain mistake); Davis v. Cilley, 44 N.H. 448, 452 (1863) (award modified for plain mistake because arbitrators erred in figuring the amount owed to the defendant).

We have held that we will construe a lease as a contract, Turcotte v. Griffin, 120 N.H. 292, 294, 415 A.2d 668, 669 (1980), and that the meaning of a contract is ultimately a matter of law for this court to decide, Baker v. McCarthy, 122 N.H. 171, 174-75, 443 A.2d 138, 140 (1982).

A meeting of the minds must occur before a contract is formed.

A lease is a contract whose terms are to be interpreted according to the rules of contract.

Turcotte v. Griffin, 120 N.H. 292, 294-95, 415 A.2d 668, 669-70 (1980); Simon v. New Hampshire Sav.