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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5235
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 1668
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE CALCULATION OF PREJUDGMENT
INTEREST ON A PLAINTIFF'S OFFER OF COMPROMISE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 52-192a of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2022, and 2
applicable to any civil action filed on or after said date): 3
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, after 4
commencement of any civil action based upon contract or seeking the 5
recovery of money damages, whether or not other relief is sought, the 6
plaintiff may, not earlier than one hundred eighty days after service of 7
process is made upon the defendant in such action but not later than 8
thirty days before trial, file with the clerk of the court a written offer of 9
compromise signed by the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney, directed 10
to the defendant or the defendant's attorney, offering to settle the claim 11
underlying the action for a sum certain. For the purposes of this section, 12
such plaintiff includes a counterclaim plaintiff under section 8-132. The 13
plaintiff shall give notice of the offer of compromise to the defendant's 14
attorney or, if the defendant is not represented by an attorney, to the 15 Raised Bill No. 5235
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defendant himself or herself. Within thirty days after being notified of 16
the filing of the offer of compromise and prior to the rendering of a 17
verdict by the jury or an award by the court, the defendant or the 18
defendant's attorney may file with the clerk of the court a written 19
acceptance of the offer of compromise agreeing to settle the claim 20
underlying the action for the sum certain specified in the plaintiff's offer 21
of compromise. Upon such filing and the receipt by the plaintiff of such 22
sum certain, the plaintiff shall file a withdrawal of the action with the 23
clerk and the clerk shall record the withdrawal of the action against the 24
defendant accordingly. If the offer of compromise is not accepted within 25
thirty days and prior to the rendering of a verdict by the jury or an 26
award by the court, the offer of compromise shall be considered rejected 27
and not subject to acceptance unless refiled. Any such offer of 28
compromise and any acceptance of the offer of compromise shall be 29
included by the clerk in the record of the case. 30
(b) In the case of any action to recover damages resulting from 31
personal injury or wrongful death, whether in tort or in contract, in 32
which it is alleged that such injury or death resulted from the negligence 33
of a health care provider, the plaintiff may, not earlier than three 34
hundred sixty-five days after service of process is made upon the 35
defendant in such action, file with the clerk of the court a written offer 36
of compromise pursuant to subsection (a) of this section and, if the offer 37
of compromise is not accepted within sixty days and prior to the 38
rendering of a verdict by the jury or an award by the court, the offer of 39
compromise shall be considered rejected and not subject to acceptance 40
unless refiled. 41
(c) After trial the court shall examine the record to determine whether 42
the plaintiff made an offer of compromise which the defendant failed to 43
accept. If the court ascertains from the record that the plaintiff has 44
recovered an amount equal to or greater than the sum certain specified 45
in the plaintiff's offer of compromise, the court shall add to the amount 46
so recovered eight per cent annual interest on said amount, except in the 47
case of a counterclaim plaintiff under section 8-132, the court shall add 48
to the amount so recovered eight per cent annual interest on the 49 Raised Bill No. 5235
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difference between the amount so recovered and the sum certain 50
specified in the counterclaim plaintiff's offer of compromise. The 51
interest shall be computed from the date [the complaint in the civil 52
action or application under section 8-132 was filed with the court if the 53
offer of compromise was filed not later than eighteen months from the 54
filing of such complaint or application. If such offer was filed later than 55
eighteen months from the date of filing of the complaint or application, 56
the interest shall be computed from the date the offer of compromise 57
was filed] of the cause of action which is the subject of the civil action. 58
The court may award reasonable attorney's fees in an amount not to 59
exceed three hundred fifty dollars, and shall render judgment 60
accordingly. This section shall not be interpreted to abrogate the 61
contractual rights of any party concerning the recovery of attorney's fees 62
in accordance with the provisions of any written contract between the 63
parties to the action. 64
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2022, and
applicable to any civil
action filed on or after said
date
52-192a
Statement of Purpose:
To provide that the interest period on a plaintiff's prejudgment offer of
compromise shall be calculated from the date of the cause of action
which is the subject of the civil action.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]