Opinion ID: 2633498
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Effect of the offer of judgment

Text: During the initial litigation concerning the accident, Ono, the short-term lessee, served an offer of judgment upon Hall in the amount of his individual policy limits, $100,000. Hall accepted the offer. Acceptance of the offer by Hall extinguished Ono's legal liability. Because the legal liability of the short-term lessee was a condition precedent to the right to collect under either of the two policies, acceptance of the offer bars any recovery against any coverage Enterprise provided for Ono's potential liability to third parties such as Hall. Accordingly, the district court properly dismissed the second case, not because the limitation period had run, but because Ono's liability had been entirely resolved. This, in turn, immunized Enterprise from having to pay Hall additional moneys as an excess insurer under Alamo. [13]