Under most civil rights laws and anti-discrimination statutes, if you prevail in your lawsuit you will be awarded reasonable attorneys' fees and costs payable by the other side. (See our site's page on attorneys fees for additional information.) Depending on your own fee arrangement with your lawyer, this may significantly impact your recovery. When you reject an offer of judgment and do not obtain a greater award than the offer at trial, you will not be able to request payment by defendant(s) of your attorneys' fees for any of his or her time spent after that rejection. Because of this potential penalty, you need to discuss the pros and cons of accepting or rejecting an offer of judgment with counsel. This is a serious legal decision which cannot be summarized adequately on this website. You must weigh the pros and cons of this decision with your lawyer.