Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 147.048 – Offer to Settle
Current as of: 2024 | Check for updates
|
Other versions
(a) A defendant receiving notice under § 147.044 may offer to settle the claim. The offer may include an offer to cure or correct the computer date failure.
(b) The offer must be accepted by the claimant not later than the 30th day after the date the offer is made or the offer is rejected.
Terms Used In Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 147.048
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
(c) A defendant may file a rejected offer to settle with the court with an affidavit certifying its rejection.
(d) If the court finds that the amount tendered in a rejected offer to settle filed with the court is the same as, substantially the same as, or more than the damages found by the trier of fact, the claimant may not recover any amount in excess of the lesser of:
(1) the amount of damages tendered in the settlement offer; or
(2) the amount of damages found by the trier of fact.
(e) Subsection (d) does not apply if the court finds that the defendant making the offer:
(1) could not perform the offer when the offer was made; or
(2) substantially misrepresented the value of the offer.
(f) In this section, the term “damages” does not include attorney’s fees or litigation expenses.