The Result Was Plaintiff Was Liable for $46,115.76 In Postjudgment Costs/Expert Fees After Deduction Of $8,620 Net Jury Award.
CCP § 998 offers that are rejected but not beaten at trial can be very cruel reversals of fortune even if a positive jury verdict is obtained. In this personal injury case, plaintiff obtained only a $8,620 net jury verdict after rejecting respective defense 998 offers of $12,001 and later $40,001. The trial judge then awarded the defense $54,735.76 in postjudgment costs (mainly expert fees), which meant plaintiff had to pay the defense $46,115.76 after getting credit for the jury verdict amount.
Plaintiff’s appeal of the costs order was unsuccessful in Dubord v. Deluca, Case Nos. D063254/D063841 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Apr. 29, 2014) (unpublished).
Plaintiff argued that the first $12,001 offer was invalid because there was no acceptance signature line or separate Notice of Acceptance document attached to the offer. The 4/1 DCA panel rejected this argument, finding persuasive the 4/3 DCA’s reasoning in Rouland v. Pacific Specialty Ins. Co., 220 Cal.App.4th 280, 287 (2013) [discussed in our October 15, 2013 post; authored by Justice Aronson]—which found no magic formatting was needed where there was some acceptance language in the offer. The second offer’s validity did not need to be considered because the first offer was not rendered inconsequential and was indeed basis alone for cost-shifting in favor of the defense.