''Drennan v. Star Paving Company'', 51 Cal. 2d 409 (1958), was a

California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sac ...

case in which the court held that a party who has detrimentally relied on an offer that is revoked prior to acceptance may assert

promissory estoppel A promise is a commitment by someone to do or not do something. As a noun ''promise'' means a declaration assuring that one will or will not do something. As a verb it means to commit oneself by a promise to do or give. It can also mean a capacity ...

to recover damages.

Background

William A. Drennan, a general contractor, had gotten a bid from Star Paving, a subcontractor for a construction job and had included Star Paving's bid number in his total bid. Drennan won the contract to build the Monte Vista Elementary School for the Lancaster School District based on that bid. Subsequently, Star Paving contacted him to say that its initial bid had been approximately $7000 short, and that it would not be able to complete the project for the amount of money it had previously specified. After finding an alternative subcontractor to complete the job, Drennan sued Star Paving for the difference between its bid and the cost.

Opinion of the Court

Judge

Roger J. Traynor Roger John Traynor (February 12, 1900 – May 14, 1983) was the 23rd Chief Justice of California (1964–1970) and an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from 1940 to 1964. Previously, he had served as a Deputy Attorney General ...

, writing for the California Supreme Court, held that the plaintiff's reliance on defendant's bid, as well as defendant's failure to indicate that the bid was revocable before acceptance, meant that defendant was responsible for providing the service at the price initially specified.

Impact

contracts A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

courses this case is often contrasted with '' James Baird Co. v. Gimbel Bros.'', a 1933 case with similar facts from the

Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York, and Vermont, and it has appellate jurisdic ...

decided by Judge

Learned Hand Billings Learned Hand ( ; January 27, 1872 – August 18, 1961) was an American jurist, lawyer, and judicial philosopher. He served as a federal trial judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1909 to 1924 a ...

. Hand held that an offeror was free to revoke the offer prior to acceptance; twenty-five years later, when the doctrine of

had found wider acceptance, Traynor held that the offer was irrevocable once the offeree had relied upon it.

References

External links

Monte Vista Elementary official site
{{United States contract case law Supreme Court of California case law 1958 in United States case law 1958 in California United States contract case law Lancaster, California