CCP § 998 Offer of $15,000 Was Rejected, Giving Rise to Costs/Expert Fee Exposure. Age discrimination plaintiff lost a jury trial, with the defense then seeking costs of $36,648, with $20,317 being expert witness fees for an expert that did not testify at trial. The basis for the costs request was plaintiff’s failure
Cross-Complainants Got Nada, Had to Pay Costs For Turning Down $10,000 998 Offer. Code of Civil Procedure section 998 can be a potent weapon, especially if a litigant gauges that an action will not garner much but nonetheless makes an offer that should be accepted (or, at least, catch interest). Also, if you
Opinion Will Give Added Importance to Section 998 Costs(Fee)-Shifting. Well, well, we can report that there has been an interesting appellate “explosion” of opinions in the Code of Civil Procedure section 998 area. The First District, Division 5, has entered into the fray. In SCI California Funeral Services, Inc. v. Five Bridges
PowerPoint Argument Presentations No Go; Videotaped Depositions A Go Under the Right Facts; And “Bright Line” Rule Offered On Cost Reimbursement Where Plaintiff Makes Successive 998 Offers. As you can probably tell from our topical headlines above, the Second District, Division 1 issued an important routine costs/CCP § 998 cost-shifting opinion in Martinez
$18,957 Award of Expert Witness Fees Against Plaintiff Was the Outcome. The facts in some cases are simply amazing. Cano v. Anaheim Arena Management, LLC, Case No. G044751 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Feb. 6, 2012) (unpublished) is one of them. Plaintiff doctor was attending a concert by “The Boss” (Bruce Springsteen) at
Denial of 998 Cost Enhancements Was Not Improper. Maaso v Signer, Case No. B228314 (2d Dist., Div. 2 Feb. 7, 2012) (certified for publication) is one of those lessons for all of us practitioners who arbitrate to take to heart–make sure you check the arbitration submission agreement for breadth of issues, meaning that
Lemons into Lemonade: Defense 998 Offer Was Well-Taken and Plaintiffs Did Not Achieve Their Real Litigation Objectives in Rejecting Offer and Going to Trial. CCP § 998 offers are tricky things, but legislatively crafted so that the offeree give serious consideration to the offer so that a settlement can be reached–saving everyone (the
998 Offers Do Not Have to Resolve All Claims, Only Those Involving the Offeror and Offeree. Newport Psychcare v. Windstone Behavioral Health, Inc., Case No. G044449 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Jan. 31, 2012) (unpublished) concerned plaintiffs who rejected defendants’ respective CCP § 998 offers to pay some positive moneys ($91,000, $70,000, and $15,000)
Main Holding is that Winning Defendant Can Recoup Expert Fees Paid In Deposing Plaintiff’s Expert. Acting Presiding Justice Bedsworth, on behalf of a 3-0 panel of the Fourth District, Division 3, authored a colorful opinion in the routine costs/section 998 area in Chaaban v. Wet Seal, Inc., Case No. G044718 (4th Dist., Div.
Reversal of Costs Based On Invalid Offer Occurred, While Another Cost Award Sustained Because 998 Offer Made In Good Faith/Reasonable in Nature. Our local Santa Ana appellate court decided Puerta v. Torres, 195 Cal.App.4th 1267, 1273 (2011), which invalidated a CCP § 998 offer because it did not include the acceptance provision required
