C.C.P. SECTION 998 OFFERS UPDATED The following appellate decisions from 2018 and 2019 concerning Code of Civil Procedure section 998 offers to compromise, an integral part of the civil settlement process, reflect many interesting subtleties, modifications and revisions to the procedure: Arbitration and 998 Offers  (A 998 offer may be made after an arbitration award) Heimlich v. Shivji (2019) 7 Cal.5th 350: “We hold  a request for costs under section 998 is timely if filed with the arbitrator…

998 OFFER INVALID FOR BEING TOO EARLY AND “GAMING THE SYSTEM”   Licudine v. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (2019) 30 Cal.App.5th 918 provides a tutorial on early C.C.P. sec. 998 offers and, to a lesser degree, when such offers “game the system.” In Licudine, plaintiff’s minimally invasive surgery for gallbladder removal became invasive when the surgeon nicked a vein inside her abdominal cavity. Nineteen days after service of her three-page complaint on Cedars et al. for…