Can an offer to settle be ambiguous?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Ballen v. Ballen, 2000 BCSC 261 (CanLII):

Counsel for the defendants then referred to Carlson v. Stewart (1999), (BCSC) wherein Taylor J. as he then was set out the approach to be taken to determine whether an offer to settle is ambiguous. The germane excerpt from his reasons is as follows: The offer to settle by a defendant must be unambiguous and this court should be reticent to conclude ambiguity particularly with that issue is only raised by the plaintiff after the trial.

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