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Simple English definitions for legal terms
statutory offer of settlement
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A quick definition of statutory offer of settlement:
Statutory offer of settlement is when the person being sued offers to pay the person suing them a certain amount of money to settle the case before it goes to trial. The person suing has a short time to decide if they want to accept the offer. If they do, the case is over and the settlement is official. If they don't, the case goes to trial and the person suing might have to pay a lot of money if they lose. So, it's important to think carefully about the offer.
A more thorough explanation:
Statutory offer of settlement is a legal term that refers to an offer made by a defendant to a plaintiff to settle a dispute before it goes to trial. The offer is usually a monetary amount and the plaintiff has a limited amount of time to accept or decline the offer.
If the plaintiff accepts the offer, the settlement will be filed with the court and will be legally binding. However, if the plaintiff declines the offer and the case goes to trial, the plaintiff may not be able to recover their legal costs if the judgment is less than the settlement offer.
For example, if a plaintiff is suing a defendant for $10,000 and the defendant offers a settlement of $8,000, the plaintiff must decide whether to accept the offer or go to trial. If the plaintiff declines the offer and the judgment is less than $8,000, the plaintiff may not be able to recover their legal costs.
It is important for plaintiffs to seriously consider settlement offers because trial costs can be very expensive and may outweigh the potential benefits of going to trial.
One example of a statutory offer of settlement is in Colorado, where the defendant can actually receive costs from the plaintiff if the judgment for the plaintiff was less than the defendant’s settlement offer.