What are the consequences of Rule 37B of the Rules of Civil Procedure when a defendant makes a reasonable offer before trial?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Wright v. Hohenacker, 2009 BCSC 996 (CanLII):

It is important to reiterate the underlying policy of Rule 37B. As with its predecessor rules, it is intended to encourage settlement of disputes by rewarding the party who makes a reasonable offer and penalizing the party who declines to accept such an offer: MacKenzie v. Brooks, 1999 BCCA 623. One of the ways this goal has been achieved, where a defendant makes a reasonable offer before trial in an amount greater than the judgment obtained at trial, is to deny costs to the plaintiff after the offer was made and award costs to the defendant for the steps taken and disbursements incurred after the date of the offer.

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