Legal Question in Administrative Law in California

Re: How to write a 998 letter

There is a vast body of law applicable to 998 offers. I would strongly recommend that you visit a law library and pull up Deering's Annotated Code on Cal. Civ. Proc. Code 998 and just read what the courts have said about them and their requirements.

A sampler: It must be a real offer, a token offer will not do. It must not be premature - each party must have had the opportunity to learn the facts which would go into consideration of the offer.

Any law library should have practice guides with 998 forms, but those forms will only contain the basics. You have to fill in the detail. For additional information, look up VERDICT magazine's 1st quarter 2007 article by Arthur E. Zitsow entitled Offers to Waive Costs In Return for a Dismissal: Putting the Teeth Back Into Code of Civil Procedure Section 998.

Re: How to write a 998 letter

See http://www.mwmattys.com/news_dismissal.asp for just some of the issues.

Re: How to write a 998 letter

You could google [CCP 998]. But this presupposes that your case has some settlement value. The settlement value of any lawsuit is the maximum damage award multiplied by the probability you will win.

Since the defendant knows you are a pro per who lacks basic litigation skills, their estimation of your probability of winning will be 0, which is what they will offer you. A 998 offer is not going to change anything.

Maybe they will offer to waive court costs if you dismiss the lawsuit now.

Re: How to write a 998 letter

The comments from the two other attorneys are basically correct. After you do what they suggest, I would recommend you consult with a local attorney who has handled many similar cases and on an hourly basis find out what is a reasonable demand under the circumstances and have him/her write a detailed settlement demand letter; it will cost you several hundred dollars but may make the defense attorney think you have retained the other attorney to handle all of the case so he will offer more. It will be cheaper in the long run to do that.

Remember that the purpose of a 998 is to be able to recover costs so it is normally set at a level that is lower than what a jury will award but is made early enough in the case that the other side will not accept it but has had enough time to do enough discovery to know the value of the case. So it would be smarter to made a settlement demand and see what negotiations lead to and then make a 998. You also want to try to get the other side to agree to mediation or arbitration where your being without an attorney will have less effect on how much you are offered to resolve the case than a trial.

Good luck, as unfortunately you will need it.