Opinion ID: 2521540
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Allowing only plaintiffs to be awarded attorney fees in small personal injury actions would provide a disincentive for plaintiffs to enter into a reasonable settlement.

Text: The interpretation of subsection (4) as a modifier of subsection (1) is supported by public policy. If the Respondents' position were accepted there would be no real incentive for an unreasonable plaintiff to accept a reasonable settlement offer, because there would be no risk that attorney fees would be imposed. A plaintiff could demand $25,000 in settlement with no incentive to be more reasonable because the defendant could prevail and still not obtain a judgment for attorney fees. The case at bar is a good example. The costs to the defendant of going to trial were significant even though the injuries were small. In an apparent effort to avoid this expense, the Respondents offered the Appellants a settlement offer of $5,350 which appears to be a generous amount for the relatively small injury incurred by Celia and the likelihood of a defense to the action. Under the statutory interpretation asserted by Appellants, going to trial carried with it no consequences to the Appellants other than potential non-recovery of damages. The risk to them of turning down the offer carried with it a maximum loss of $5,350. However, the potential cost to the Respondents was to either offer what they viewed as an unreasonably high amount or incur the cost of going to trial. Had Appellants known that the potential existed to be charged with the Respondents' costs of trying the case, the final settlement offer may have been viewed in a more favorable light.