General Rule Was Not Applicable Because “Unity Of Interest” Exception Applied.
A trial judge awarded $20,780.20 in costs (primary expert witness fees) as well as attorney’s fees to the defense based on a rejected CCP § 998 offer to joint plaintiffs. The rejecting plaintiffs in Rumbeck v. Premier Valley, Inc., Case No. F072262 (5th Dist. July 10, 2017) (unpublished) argued in their appeal that the joint offer was invalid based on a general principle that such offers may be infirm in nature. The appellate court affirmed the trial judge’s post-998 costs/fees award because it found that plaintiffs did have a “unity of interest” (an exception to the general rule) where parties have a single, indivisible injury. (Peterson v. John Crane, Inc., 154 Cal.App.4th 493, 505 (2007).)