Offers to Settle and their impact

At Heft Law, we strive to educate and present healthy alternatives to prevent lengthy court proceedings. In the first part of our series of posts we will discuss the importance of offers to settle.

An offer to settle is a proposal made by one party to another, offering specific terms to resolve the claims between the parties. When an offer to settle is sent early in the proceedings it can facilitate a swift and amicable resolution, potentially sparing the parties from long drawn out and expensive proceedings. 

A reasonable and comprehensive offer to settle can have a significant impact on costs both as incurred by the parties with their legal counsel as well as costs being awarded in a court hearing. 

At Heft Law, when appropriate, we advise our clients to make an offer to settle as early as possible. In many cases, offers to settle cannot be made until adequate financial disclosure has been exchanged. 

In regards to parenting issues, offers to settle can usually be made early. Financial issues may take additional time as financial disclosure of both parties is usually required. Once an offer to settle is made, it can be varied if new information comes to light or as a counter-offer is received from the other party. 

In many cases, it is appropriate to have multiple offers to settle dealing with different aspects of a matter.  For example, there may be one offer to settle as it relates to parenting issues, another for equalisation and a third for support issues. This allows the parties to settle certain issues and continue to work on others. 

If the parties are in court and there is a motion, at Heft Law, prior to drafting and serving motion materials, we strive to first provide an offer to settle the motion. If accepted, the parties are saved the cost of drafting motion materials and hopefully avoid a motion or at least narrow the issues to be adjudicated at a motion. 

In the legal landscape, the consideration of offers to settle are crucial and very important as it relates to costs. If the parties are in court, the court assesses the reasonableness of parties’ behaviour, taking into account whether they made, accepted, withdrew, or failed to accept offers to settle prior to trial or motion. There may be cost consequences for not accepting a reasonable offer, allowing the offering party to claim costs up to the date of the offer and full recovery thereafter, subject to specific conditions.

An offer to settle must meet certain criteria, including being signed by the offering party and their lawyer (if there is a lawyer). Non-compliance may render the offer invalid. 

Offers to settle have three functions: To settle the matter, to save costs of proceeding, and to allow the court to calculate costs.  Failure to make offers to settle have consequences as well. 

In summary, offers to settle serve as a proactive mechanism for resolving disputes outside the courtroom, emphasising the importance of early negotiation and compromise in the legal process.

At Heft Law, we’re prepared to assist you. Contact us for a no-fee consultation, today.