And even if that did happen, that doesn't mean the signed letter is not a contract. What you are describing is the likely outcome of breaking a contract. If you turned down another job as a result of signing the contract that was broken, my guess would be that you could recover more than moving expenses.
Are offer letters contracts
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Why would they pull the position before someone would start? Has that ever happened that you know of - after the Dean has signed the letter? That is pretty much unheard of. It would have to be due to some fluke financial catastrophe. The university can't just change their mind.
Tell me you’ve never academiced during a recession without telling me.
This is why we sat atop Ten, baby!