Court Opinion

ID: 9430137
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:29:03.620973+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:23.263951
License: Public Domain

Justice Powell,
concurring.
In Delta Airlines, Inc. v. August, 450 U. S. 346 (1981), the offer under Rule 68 stated that it was “in the amount of $150, which shall include attorney’s fees, together with costs accrued to date.” Id., at 365. In a brief concurring opinion, I expressed the view that this offer did not comport with the Rule’s requirements. It seemed to me that an offer of judgment should consist of two identified components: (i) the substantive relief proposed, and (ii) costs, including a reasonable attorney’s fee. The amount of the fee ultimately should be within the discretion of the court if the offer is accepted. In questioning the form of the offer in Delta, I was influenced in part by the fact that it was a Title VII case. I concluded that the “‘costs’ component of a Rule 68 offer of judgment in a Title VII case must include reasonable attorney’s fees accrued to the date of the offer.” Id., at 363. My view, however, as to the specificity of the “substantive relief” component of the offer did not depend solely on the fact that Delta was a Title VII case.
No other Justice joined my Delta concurrence. The Court’s decision was upon a different ground. Although I think it the better practice for the offer of judgment expressly to identify the components, it is important to have a Court for a clear interpretation of Rule 68. I noted in Delta that “parties to litigation and the public as a whole have an interest — often an overriding one — in settlement rather than exhaustion of protracted court proceedings.” Ibid. The purpose of Rule 68 is to “facilitate] the early resolution of marginal suits in which the defendant perceives the claim to *13be without merit, and the plaintiff recognizes its speculative nature.” Ibid. See also id., at 363, n. 1. We have now agreed as to what specifically is required by Rule 68.
Accordingly, I join the opinion of the Court.