Opinion ID: 1198908
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Offer of judgment's costs component

Text: TH's offer of judgment was inclusive of all costs (including court awarded attorney's fees and prejudgment interest)[.] PCI claims that the offer to pay all costs should be taken to mean the entire amount of the costs incurred by PCI, whether or not taxable under Civil Rule 79. PCI goes on to assert that the all costs provision has significance in assessing the relative values of the offer of judgment and the actual judgment, since the actual judgment incorporates only properly taxable costs. PCI thus argues that, for comparison purposes, the actual judgment should have been increased by an amount reflecting untaxable costs that TH ostensibly would have paid had PCI accepted the offer of judgment. In our view, however, this argument proceeds from a strained and untenable reading of the offer's all costs language. The trial court did not err in rejecting the argument.