Martin v. Gillis & Lane
A jury awarded plaintiff John Martin (plaintiff) $200,000 in damages for personal injuries he sustained in a motor vehicle accident caused by Douglas Ratkovic (Ratkovic), an employee of defendant Gillis & Lane, Inc. (Gillis). Ratkovic was dismissed as a defendant prior to trial; the damages were awarded against Gillis. (We refer to Gillis and Ratkovic collectively as defendants.) Prior to dismissing Ratkovic, plaintiff served an offer to compromise with Gillis and Ratkovic for $199,999.99 under Code of Civil Procedure section 998. The offer lapsed unaccepted. Because the jurys $200,000 award exceeded the amount of the section 998 offer, the trial court subsequently awarded plaintiff expert fees and costs under section 998 and prejudgment interest under Civil Code section 3291. Gillis appeals the award of expert fees and costs and prejudgment interest, contending the section 998 offer was invalid because it was made to Gillis and Ratkovic jointly and did not apportion the requested amount between them. Court affirm.
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