Award of Attorney Fees/offers of Settlement: Proposed Change
| Publication year | 1990 |
| Pages | 2419 |
1990, December, Pg. 2419. Award of Attorney Fees/Offers of Settlement: Proposed Change
The English Rule Committee of the Colorado Bar Association is soliciting comments on a proposed statutory change concerning the award of attorney fees and offers of settlement.
The committee, co-chaired by Mike Massey and Judge Connie Peterson, met through the summer and fall. The product of the committee's efforts is expected to be introduced in the 1991 legislative session by Sen. Terry Considine. Sen. Considine was an integral part of the drafting process, and provided the original impetus for the bill.
The following is the text of the proposed statute, as well as some examples of how the statute would operate in various circumstances.
This bill will be reviewed by the CBA's Legislative Policy Committee on December 14, 1990, and by the Board of Governors on January 12, 1991. Please direct any comments on the bill to Tom McMillen, Director of Legislative Relations, CBA, 1900 Grant St., Suite 950, Denver, CO 80203 or call 860-1115 or 1-800-332-6736.
(1) Except for cases commenced under Titles 14, 19, 37 or 42, reasonable attorney fees shall be awarded in any civil action brought or appealed in any court of record if a party has rejected a written settlement offer made either six months or more after a complaint is served upon the party to whom the settlement offer is made or 90 days or more after a case is at issue, whichever occurs first, and a judgment is entered which is less favorable than the rejected settlement offer. In cases set for trial less than 30 days from the date the complaint is filed, a settlement offer hereunder may be made and accepted at any time prior to trial. The written settlement offer must be accepted in writing within 15 days after receipt thereof, or such offer is deemed rejected.
(2) Any judgment which does not exceed the amount of the rejected settlement offer by 10 percent or more is considered less favorable, unless the judgment is equal to or greater than the amount of the claim. For purposes of this section, the amount of the judgment shall include assessable costs and interest calculated to the date of receipt of the settlement offer. A settlement...
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