Notes - Los Angeles Traction Co. v. Wilshire

Note

Is the case now covered by §45 of the Restatement First[135]? By §90, reprinted supra p. 281? Was plaintiff under a duty to complete the street railway? Consult Pollock, Book Review, 28 L.Q. Rev. 100, 101 (1912). See also Goble, Is Performance Always as Desirable as a Promise to Perform?, 22 Ill. L. Rev. 789 (1928). Is §62 of the Restatement Second, supra p. 407, applicable? Can you imagine a situation in which the traction company, under the court's theory, would be liable in damages to Wilshire?

2. A, in a well-known hypothetical case, says to B, "You have never kept your promise in the past, but if you plow my acre I shall give you $80 and if you complete the job before Thanksgiving I shall give you a bonus of $20." Can B abandon the half-completed job with impunity? Is he entitled to any compensation? B has just done half of the job when A revokes. The value of B's work is $40. Is B entitled to $40, $50, or $60, or can he complete the work and demand $100? Should not the offeree be given the full benefit of the bargain only if he is under a duty to complete the job? See Fuller & Perdue, Reliance Interest in Contract Damages (pt. 2), 46 Yale L.J. 373, 410-413 (1937). Consult further Hays, Formal Contracts and Consideration: A Legislative Program, 41 Colum. L. Rev. 849 at 860 (1941).

Suppose B has spent $5 to have his plow repaired; has A's promise become irrevocable by virtue of this fact? Does Restatement §45 control? Section 90?

3. In Bickerstaff v. Gregston, 604 P.2d 382 (Okla. Ct. App. 1979), the court declined to apply §90 where the promise explicitly called for an act, and the act was not completed by the plaintiff-promisee.

[135] It reads as follows:

Revocation of Offer for Unilateral Contract; Effect of Part Performance or Tender

If an offer for a unilateral contract is made, and part of the consideration requested in the offer is given or tendered by the offeree in response thereto, the offeror is bound by a contract, the duty of immediate performance of which is conditional on the full consideration being given or tendered within the time stated in the offer, or, if no time is stated therein, within a reasonable time.

For the text of the same section in the Restatement Second, see p. 373 supra.