Johnson v. Safai CA4/3
Shayan Safai appeals from the trial court’s postjudgment order denying her expert witness fees after finding her pretrial Code of Civil Procedure section 998 offer did not shift those costs to Malcolm Johnson, who failed to prevail in his personal injury action against Safai following an accident on the 405 freeway. (All further statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure unless noted.) Safai contends the court erred in concluding her offer of compromise was invalid under the then-recent decision in Sanford v. Rasnick (2016) 246 Cal.App.4th 1121 (Sanford). Under Sanford and the de novo standard that governs our review where there are no disputed facts, as here, we explain that Safai’s offer was valid. We therefore reverse the trial court’s order and remand for the court to determine the expert witness fees to which Safai is entitled under section 998’s cost-shifting provisions.
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