|
Authored by: Wol on Monday, May 20 2013 @ 01:32 PM EDT |
In England and Wales, typically the defendant will make "an offer into
court". The plaintiff DOES NOT KNOW about this offer (aiui).
Thinking about it, that seems a bit odd. But it's presumably based on previous
negotiations.
And yes, whoever wins the "offer into court" cannot have costs awarded
against them. They usually get their costs awarded. So if I'm sued and make a
high offer, the plaintiff will be unlikely to be able to recover their costs.
It's no guarantee I'll recover mine but the chances are high.
I dunno as America would have to change very much, after all you do already have
a system for awarding costs. You just don't classify attorney fees as such.
Change that and keep the existing system. It'll help with a lot more than just
civil suits (and help the rest of the world too - if you get less litigious so
will we! :-)
Change the rules to say "costs *including* attorney fees" rather than
"costs *and* attorney fees".
Cheers,
Wol[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
|
|
|
|
|