Plaintiff's Request For Costs Was Made In Court After Plaintiff Beat Her Section 998 Offer During Arbitration.
Plaintiff/Appellant Helene Storm prevailed in arbitration over an uninsured motorist claim against an insurance company. Afterwards, she petitioned the trial court to confirm the award in her favor, and to award arbitration and post-arbitration costs as a prevailing party under sections 998 and 1293.2, because she did better than her 998 settlement offer in arbitration. The trial court denied her request for costs, because the arbitration agreement did not mention recovery of costs post-arbitration, and provided each side would split costs incurred during arbitration. Storm appealed. Helene Storm v. The Standard Fire Insurance Company, B299277 (2/4 7/2/20) (Willhite, Collins, Currey).
The Court of Appeal reasoned that an agreement to divide costs during the arbitration did not preclude the arbitrator from reallocating costs to the prevailing party on a 998 settlement offer in this case. The facts are important here, because the arbitration agreement only gave the arbitrator the power to rule on damages and liability, and therefore Storm was not required to request costs from the arbitrator. This case can be distinguished from "the decisions . . . dictated by the broad powers given to the arbitrator by language of the arbitration agreements at issue."
As for post-arbitration costs incurred, "[u]nless the arbitrator's award or the parties' arbitration agreement negates the enforceability of section 1293.2, a court must award costs incurred in post-arbitration judicial proceedings to confirm, vacate, or modify an arbitration award."
Storm should be pleased she appealed, because the Court of Appeal reversed the order granting the insurance company's motion to tax costs and striking her memorandum of costs. The matter was remanded with directions to consider whether her claimed costs are recoverable under 998 and 1293.2. And Storm gets to recover costs on appeal.
Comments