Costs/Prevailing Party: Plaintiff Voluntarily Dismissing Action After Receiving Payment Of Settlement Money Is Prevailing Party For Routine Costs Under CCP § 1032(a)(4)

 

Defendant Did Not Prevail, For Routine Costs Purposes, By Obtaining Dismissal In This Situation.

     The California Supreme Court, in DeSaulles v. Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Case No. S219236 (Cal. Supreme Court Mar. 10, 2016) (published), decided that a voluntarily dismissing plaintiff who received settlement money from the defendant was a prevailing party for purposes of an award of routine costs under Code of Civil Procedure section 1032(a)(4). However, our state high court cautioned that this is the default rule and the parties can make their own arrangements for treatment of costs in settlements (also suggesting that trial judges should be good settlement gatekeepers in determining costs allocation in settlement situations).