California Code of Civil Procedure 998 offers can seem straight forward. You make an offer to settle. And if you beat that offer at trial, then you can seek certain costs per CCP 998, which may include costs for expert witnesses.
By Eric Ganci
Fajardo v. Dailey filed 10/14/22In civil law, Defendant can file a motion for summary judgment (an MSJ as we shorten it in the legal biz). I shan’t get deep into what is an MSJ or the law behind it, but at 30,000 feet the law is this: “A court may grant a motion for summary judgment ‘only when ‘all the papers submitted show that there is no triable issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.’”
We recently posted a blog about California Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) section 998 offers with the help of Martha Klak—a very talented, bright star of a law clerk at our office.
Research by Martha Klak
Let me repose the question: if Defendant serves you with a CCP 998 offer to settle, if you do not accept this offer, and then if you later dismiss Defendant from your civil action…are you liable to pay Defendant’s 998 costs?Picture this: you fell in a grocery store, at the fault of the store. The store denied fault, made up wild excuses…you took then to trial, and the Jury found in your favor and held the Store accountable.
I cannot overstate the gravity and sadness of this August 10, 2022 filed decision C.I. v. San Bernardino City Unified School (from the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, cited as 2022 WL 4077374).
