Offer to Settle

Last Reviewed: September 2026 Reviewed by: JES Contributors

If you are already in the process of a lawsuit, it doesn’t mean you have to go to trial. You and the other parties can always reach a settlement on your own.

Key Terms

An Offer to Settle is a formal process to encourage parties to reach a settlement

Basically, if you think you can make a reasonable offer to the other side you can make that offer official by filing it with the court. The other party then only has a short period of time to accept it. If they do not and, at trial, a judge orders a result equal to or worse than your offer to settle, the judge may impose a penalty on the party who refused the offer.

When Can I Make an Offer to Settle?

If you want to serve an offer to settle, you must to it within 30 days after the conclusion of the settlement conference or the conclusion of a trial conference, whichever happens first. If you need more time you can ask a judge to allow you to make an offer to settle at later date. After the offer is accepted it can be filed with the registry and then it becomes a payment order and the trial is cancelled.

NOTE: The rules about formal offers to settle under Rule 10.1 does not apply if your claim was started as a notice of civil resolution tribunal claim or a simplified trial under Rule 9.1.