Case Illustrates The Potent Impact Of A Successful CCP § 998 Offer.
Malabed-Verona v. Hollaway, Case No. B278154 (2d Dist., Div. 4 Oct. 30, 2018) (unpublished) is a situation where a car accident plaintiff won $10,000 after a jury trial, but also after rejecting a close-to-trial defense offer of $30,000. The trial judge awarded the defense $20,620.53 in costs under 998’s costs-shifting provision, resulting in a net judgment to the defendant of $9,179.83 (after crediting the $10,000 won by plaintiff).
Plaintiff, not happy, appealed. No change in result.
The 998 offer was certain in nature. It could contain, as it did, a condition to release unknown claims relating to the accident claims pled in the lawsuit. (Ignacio v. Caracciolo, 2 Cal.App.5th 81, 89 (2016).) With respect to whether it was a good faith offer, it was given that (1) the $30,000 offer exceeded the $10,000 jury verdict such it was prima facie evidence of reasonableness; (2) the offer was made close to trial such that plaintiff had plenty of time to evaluate it; and (3) plaintiff did not produce meaningful evidence of loss of income such that her assertions of inflated damages did not alter the analysis about the offer being made in good faith.