(a) If the plaintiff does not, within the time allowed for acceptance of the offer of compromise and before the commencement of the trial, file the plaintiff's notice of acceptance, the offer shall be deemed to be withdrawn and shall not be given in evidence.
(b) Unless the plaintiff recovers more than the sum specified in the offer of compromise, with interest from its date, the plaintiff shall recover no costs accruing after the plaintiff received notice of the filing of such offer, but shall pay the defendant's costs accruing after the plaintiff received notice. Such costs may include reasonable attorney's fees in an amount not to exceed three hundred fifty dollars.
(c) This section shall not be interpreted to abrogate the contractual rights of any party concerning the recovery of attorney's fees in accordance with the provisions of any written contract between the parties to the action. The provisions of this section shall not apply to cases in which nominal damages have been assessed upon a hearing after a default or after a demurrer has been overruled.
(1949 Rev., S. 7944; P.A. 79-250, S. 2; P.A. 82-160, S. 96; P.A. 05-275, S. 7.)
History: P.A. 79-250 specified that costs may include attorney's fees not exceeding $350 and that provisions do not abrogate contractual rights re recovery of attorney's fees; P.A. 82-160 rephrased the section and inserted Subsec. indicators; P.A. 05-275 amended Subsecs. (a) and (b) to replace “offer of judgment” with “offer of compromise” where appearing and make technical changes, effective October 1, 2005, and applicable to actions accruing on or after that date.
Cited. 163 C. 445. The phrase “such costs may include reasonable attorney's fees” modifies only the term “defendant's costs” in the immediately preceding clause of statute. 188 C. 213. Cited. 239 C. 708. Plaintiff must establish all of the elements of a negligence claim, including causation and actual injury, in order to recover and, therefore, the technical legal injury concept does not apply to a negligence action. 277 C. 364.
Cited. 8 CA 254.
Cited. 10 CS 166. Reasonableness of offer of judgment discussed. 39 CS 467.
Subsec. (b):
Subsec. requires payment of costs that are authorized elsewhere in statute if plaintiff fails to recover more than the offer of compromise, and because no statute authorizes costs for expenses of daily expedited trial transcripts, defendants' attorney's attendance at videoconference deposition or defendants' and defendants' employee trial testimony, trial court improperly authorized such costs. 289 C. 61.
Copyright ©2024 LegalFix. All rights reserved. LegalFix is not a law firm, is not licensed to practice law, and does not provide legal advice, services, or representation. The information on this website is an overview of the legal plans you can purchase—or that may be provided by your employer as an employee benefit or by your credit union or other membership group as a membership benefit.
LegalFix provides its members with easy access to affordable legal services through a network of independent law firms. LegalFix, its corporate entity, and its officers, directors, employees, agents, and contractors do not provide legal advice, services, or representation—directly or indirectly.
The articles and information on the site are not legal advice and should not be relied upon—they are for information purposes only. You should become a LegalFix member to get legal services from one of our network law firms.
You should not disclose confidential or potentially incriminating information to LegalFix—you should only communicate such information to your network law firm.
The benefits and legal services described in the LegalFix legal plans are not always available in all states or with all plans. See the legal plan Benefit Overview and the more comprehensive legal plan contract during checkout for coverage details in your state.
Use of this website, the purchase of legal plans, and access to the LegalFix networks of law firms are subject to the LegalFix Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.