McDonnell

FACTS

Timothy McDonnell filed this lemon law case against Ford Motor Company (Ford) in 2019, alleging claims for breach of express and implied warranties tied to his purchase of a Ford Expedition. In February 2020, Ford served McDonnell 2 with an offer to compromise under section 998 (the 998 offer). As is relevant here, the 998 offer contained the following terms: “1. [Ford] will pay to TIMOTHY MCDONNELL (‘Plaintiff’), the sum of $57,207.26, which

1 All further undesignated statutory references are to this code. 2 Section 998 provides that any party to an action may “serve an offer in writing upon any other party to the action to allow judgment to be taken or an award to be entered in accordance with the terms and conditions stated at that time.” (§ 998, subd. (b).) “If the offer is accepted, the offer with proof of acceptance shall be filed and the clerk or the judge shall enter judgment accordingly.” (Id., subd. (b)(1).) If a defense offer is not accepted and the plaintiff fails to obtain a more favorable judgment, the plaintiff may not recover his or her postoffer costs and must pay the defendant’s costs from the time of the offer. (Id., subd. (c)(1).)

2 constitutes…