Gonzalez

*158 INTRODUCTION

*776 Code of Civil Procedure section 998 1 is a cost-shifting statute designed to encourage parties to settle their lawsuits prior to trial by punishing a party that refuses a reasonable settlement offer. In order to trigger section 998, a settlement offer must be clear, in that it must allow the party receiving the offer to evaluate whether the party making the offer is likely to obtain a more favorable verdict at trial.

In this wrongful death case, two people (Virginia Gonzalez and Maverick Crowder) died after a fire engulfed the rented home in which they were living. Both sets of the decedents' heirs (plaintiffs) sued the owners of the rented home, Wayne and Maria Lew, and plaintiffs subsequently made a joint offer to settle both claims for $1.5 million. The Lews rejected the offer and plaintiffs prevailed at trial; the jury awarded Virginia's heirs more than $2.2 million and Maverick's heirs just over $357,000. The Lews appeal the court's order awarding costs to plaintiffs under section 998, arguing the joint offer to settle both wrongful death claims was invalid because it did not allow them to evaluate each claim independently. Under the unique…