Heimlich v. Shivji

*607 *356 Code of Civil Procedure section 998 1 creates an incentive for settlement. It authorizes an award of costs to a party that makes a pretrial settlement offer when the opponent rejects the offer and obtains a lesser result at trial. ( Martinez v. Brownco Construction Co. (2013) 56 Cal.4th 1014 , 1019, 157 Cal.Rptr.3d 558 , 301 P.3d 1167 .) In 1997, the Legislature amended the statute to make the same incentive available in arbitrations. (Stats. 1997, ch. 892, § 1, p. 6390; Pilimai v. Farmers Ins. Exchange Co. (2006) 39 Cal.4th 133 , 139, 149, 45 Cal.Rptr.3d 760 , 137 P.3d 939 .) This case…