Goodman

Under certain circumstances, a trial court must award costs and even attorney fees in favor of a “prevailing party” in an action. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1032, subd. (b).) “Prevailing party,” as relevant here, includes “the party with a net monetary recovery.” (§ 1032, subd. (a)(4); hereafter, section 1032(a)(4).) In this case, the plaintiffs settled with several defendants and later obtained a damage award against nonsettling defendants in an amount less than the settlement proceeds. By statute, an award in favor of a nonsettling defendant is offset by the amount the plaintiff has received from the settling defendants. (§ 877, subd. (a).) If the settlement amount is greater than the damage award, the award is entirely offset, resulting in a zero judgment. (Syverson v. Heitmann (1985) 171 Cal.App.3d 106, 110 [ 214 Cal.Rptr. 581 ] (Syverson).)

Based on the plain language of these statutes, we conclude that the plaintiffs here, ordered to take nothing against the nonsettling defendants due to the settlement offset, did not obtain a “net monetary recovery.” As we explain further below, we disapprove of Wakefield v. Bohlin (2006) 145 Cal.App.4th 963, 982-983 [ 52 Cal.Rptr.3d 400…