Silveira

Filed 6/9/15 Unmodified opinion attached

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

LENA LEE et al.,

F067723

Plaintiffs and Appellants, (Super. Ct. No. 652893) v.

ORDER MODIFYING OPINION

JOSEPH M. SILVEIRA et al., [No Change in Judgment]

Defendants and Respondents.

It is hereby ordered that the published opinion filed on May 15, 2015, be modified as follows: 1. On page 2, the third full paragraph, beginning “For purposes of” is deleted and the following paragraph is inserted in its place:

For purposes of determining whether a defendant “fail[e]d to obtain a more favorable judgment” under section 998, we conclude that any negotiated rate differential included in a jury’s verdict should be subtracted from the award before the comparison is made to the offer to compromise “for the simple reason that the injured plaintiff did not suffer any economic loss in that amount.” (Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, Inc. (2011) 52 Cal.4th 541, 548 (Howell).) In other words, the negotiated rate differential is not part of the judgment “obtained” in the litigation. 2. On page 3, the…