Can multiple defendants in a single action make individual offers to settle under Rule 37?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Marszalek v. Bishop, 2008 BCSC 370 (CanLII):
Clearly, this issue has been controversial. There are difficulties with joint offers, whether in the context of multiple or single actions. Such offers do not take into account the possibility that the plaintiff may succeed against one defendant but not others, or the possibility of differing degrees of liability among the defendants. On the other hand, a single offer by a defendant may not take into account a proportionate assessment of costs in relation to liability. It is not clear how multiple non-joint defendants in a single action can make individual offers to settle under Rule 37 in such a way as to avoid double recovery of costs to a plaintiff: see, for example, Coleman v. Spong, 2003 BCSC 724.
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