Appellate Court Adopted Strict Construction of 998 Requirements.
Although unpublished, Bui v. 4901 Centennial Partners, LLC, Case No. F066582 (5th Dist. Feb. 7, 2014) (unpublished) is a stark reminder to follow the Code of Civil Procedure section 998 procedural dictates in order to make a 998 offer valid in nature.
In this case, the defense presented a 998 offer through a letter that presented the terms and that concluded with the following language: “Should [plaintiff] not accept this offer in writing within [30 days], this offer shall expire and no longer be available for acceptance by [plaintiff].” Plaintiff did not accept the offer, and the lower court awarded expert costs to the defense because the plaintiff did not beat the 998 offer after suffering a nonsuit on all causes of action.
The appellate court reversed, in a 3-0 opinion authored by Justice Kane.
The reason? Section 998 requires that the offer itself must advise the offeree that acceptance of the offer must be (1) in writing and (2) signed. Here, although advising plaintiff that any acceptance needed to be in writing, the offer made no mention that the written acceptance also required a signature. The statute requires satisfaction of both requirements, with the failure to satisfy the second one being fatal in this instance.