Prevailing as One Is Not Prevailing as Many

Kahn v. The Dewey Grp., No. B259679 (D2d3 Sept. 8, 2015)

Plaintiff, a mobile home tenant, alleges that twenty different defendants caused him to be exposed to harmful industrial chemicals that were disposed of on land that would later become the trailer park. All twenty defendants jointly made a Code of Civil Procedure § 998 offer of judgment for $75,000. Fourteen defendants got out on nonsuit. The other six went to a trail, where the jury deadlocked and a mistrial was declared. Although the retrial was pending, the fourteen nonsuited defendants moved to recover their proportionate share of expert costs, which the trial court granted. Plaintiff appealed.