Kent

The defendants made an offer to settle which the plaintiff accepted 11 months later, shortly before trial.

The defendants brought a motion to determine whether costs were payable to the plaintiff up to the date of the offer or the date of acceptance.

The court held that costs were payable only up to the date the offer was made, as allowing costs up to the date of late acceptance would discourage early settlements and contradict the purpose of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The plaintiffs were partially successful at trial, establishing that their mother breached her fiduciary duty through physical abuse, but failing to establish claims regarding sexual abuse against her and their grandparents.

In this costs decision, the court awarded the plaintiffs substantial indemnity costs of $62,899.60 against the mother to condemn her assaultive behavior, despite their limited success.

The successful grandparent defendants were awarded modest partial indemnity costs of $13,000.

Pre-judgment interest was fixed at 5 percent, but limited to a 5-year period due to the plaintiffs' delay in prosecuting the claim.

The plaintiffs sued their mother and maternal grandparents for breach of fiduciary duty, alleging they failed to protect them from childhood sexual abuse perpetrated by their uncles.

The plaintiffs also alleged their mother physically abused them.

The court dismissed the claims regarding the sexual abuse, finding insufficient evidence that the mother or grandparents knew or ought to have known about the abuse at the time.

However, the court found the mother liable for breach of fiduciary duty due to repeated physical abuse and awarded each plaintiff $35,000 in damages.

The defendant moved for summary judgment to strike the plaintiff's claims in strict liability, negligence, and nuisance arising from environmental contamination.

The strict liability claim was struck on consent.

The court held that the plaintiff's claims for damages other than property devaluation were statute-barred because the limitation period resumed when the class action abandoned those claims in 2002.

However, the claim for property devaluation was not statute-barred as the limitation period remained suspended until the plaintiff was excluded from the class in 2009.

The court found a genuine issue for trial regarding the remaining claims.