Elrod

Code of Civil Procedure section 998 sets forth procedures whereby a party to a civil lawsuit can make a pretrial offer to settle the case. The statute further prescribes conditions whereby the offeror may recover costs and expert witness fees if the offer is not accepted and the offeror obtains a judgment at least as favorable as that proposed in the offer. In Wear v. Calderon (1981) 121 Cal.App.3d 818 [ 175 Cal.Rptr. 566 ], Division Three of the Second District concluded, "... a good faith requirement must be read into section 998. In other words, the pretrial offer of settlement required under section 998 must be realistically reasonable in the circumstances of the particular case. ...” (P. 821.) In this case, we conclude that by reenacting section 998 without pertinent change in light of Wear , the Legislature has approved and adopted Wear’s interpretation of section 998. We also discuss how trial courts should determine whether a section 998 offer meets the test of good faith.

Procedural History

In 1979, plaintiff Howard Kenneth Elrod was severely injured and rendered a paraplegic in an accident that occurred while he was driving a logging truck. He filed a lawsuit…