(a) Offer of Judgment. Any party in a civil action, except a domestic relations action, may file, no later than twenty days before the trial date, a written offer of judgment signed by the offeror or his attorney, directed to the opposing party, offering to take judgment in the offeror's favor, or to allow judgment to be taken against the offeror for a sum stated therein, or to the effect specified in the offer. Service of the offer of judgment shall be made as provided in these rules. Within twenty days after service of the offer of judgment or at least ten days prior to the trial date, whichever date is earlier, the offeree or his attorney may file a written acceptance of the offer of judgment. Upon the filing, the court shall immediately issue the judgment and the clerk shall enter the judgment as provided in the offer of judgment. If the offer of judgment is not accepted within twenty days after notification, or prior to or on the tenth day before the actual trial date, whichever date occurs first, the offer shall be considered rejected and evidence thereof is not admissible except in a proceeding after trial to fix costs, interest, attorney's fees, and other recoverable monies. Any offeror may withdraw an offer of judgment prior to its acceptance or prior to the date on which it would be considered rejected by giving notice to the offeree or his attorney as provided in these rules. Any offeror may file a subsequent offer of judgment in any amount which supersedes any earlier offer that was rejected by the offeree or withdrawn by the offeror, and, on filing and service, terminates any rights to interest or costs under the superseded offer. An offer is not considered rejected by a counter offer and shall remain effective until accepted, rejected, or withdrawn as provided in this subsection. All offers of judgment and any acceptance of offers of judgment must be included by the clerk in the record of the case.
Rule 68.Offer of judgment
Group VIII: Provisional and Final Remedies and Special Proceedings · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified July 13, 2026
In one sentenceRule 68 lets any party in a civil case except a domestic relations action file a written offer of judgment at least twenty days before trial, and imposes cost and interest consequences on an offeree who rejects an offer and later does no better at trial.
Full Text of Rule 68
(b) Consequences of Non-Acceptance. If an offer of judgment is not accepted and the offeror obtains a verdict or determination at least as favorable as the rejected offer, the offeror shall recover from the offeree: (1) any administrative, filing, or other court costs from the date of the offer until the entry of the judgment; (2) if the offeror is a plaintiff, eight percent interest computed on the amount of the verdict or award from the date of the offer to the entry of judgment; or (3) if the offeror is a defendant, reduction from the judgment or award of eight percent interest computed on the amount of the verdict or award from the date of the offer to the entry of the judgment.
(c) This rule shall not abrogate the contractual rights of any party concerning the recovery of attorney's fees or other monies in accordance with the provision of any written contract between the parties to the action.
Rule.
procedure under the rule consistent with prior practice.
recover any judgment in his favor as well as when the plaintiff's recovery is less than the offer of judgment.
effective July 1, 2005.
Notes
Note: This Rule 68 is essentially Code §§ 15-21-40, 15-21-50, and 15-65-130 and is not identical to the Federal
Note to 1986 Amendment: This material was formerly found in S.C. Code §§ 15-21-10, 30 and 40, and is added to make the
Note to 1994 Amendment: Rule 68(a) and (b) are amended to permit a defending party to recover costs when the plaintiff fails to
Note to 2006 Amendment: This amendment makes this provision consistent with S.C. Code Ann. Section 15-35-400, which became
Plain-English Summary
Rule 68 gives litigants a tool for testing how confident the other side is about their case. A party can put a number on the table, in writing, offering to take judgment or to let judgment be taken against them for a stated amount. The clock then starts running: the other side has twenty days, or until ten days before trial if that comes sooner, to accept. Silence past that window means the offer is treated as rejected, and neither side can later tell the jury or the judge that an offer was ever made, except when the court is sorting out costs after the verdict.
The rule has teeth because it changes the financial calculus of going to trial. If the offeree turns down the offer and the eventual verdict is no better than what was offered, the offeror collects the court costs run up since the offer, plus eight percent interest on the award calculated from the offer date. A plaintiff-offeror adds that interest onto the judgment; a defendant-offeror subtracts it from what the plaintiff otherwise would have collected. That asymmetry is the incentive: an offeree who guesses wrong about the strength of the case pays for the privilege of finding out at trial.
The rule also builds in flexibility. An offeror can withdraw an offer any time before it is accepted or before it would count as rejected, and can file a fresh offer that wipes out an earlier one, whether that earlier offer was rejected or withdrawn. A counteroffer does not kill the original offer either, so parties can negotiate back and forth without accidentally forfeiting an offer already on the table. Everything, offers and any acceptance, goes into the case record for the clerk to keep. And Rule 68(c) makes clear that none of this displaces whatever attorney-fee or cost provisions the parties already agreed to in a contract underlying the suit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I never respond to an offer of judgment under Rule 68?
An offer not accepted within the twenty-day window, or by the tenth day before trial if that arrives first, is treated as rejected by operation of the rule. You do not need to send a rejection notice for the deadline to have that effect.
Can an offer of judgment be mentioned to the jury at trial?
No. Rule 68(a) makes evidence of a rejected offer inadmissible except in a later proceeding devoted to fixing costs, interest, attorney's fees, and similar recoverable amounts after the verdict comes in.
Does Rule 68 apply in divorce or custody cases?
No. The rule expressly excludes domestic relations actions, so offers of judgment under this rule are not available in those cases.
What does the offeror recover if the offeree loses the gamble?
Under Rule 68(b), the offeror recovers court costs accrued from the offer date to judgment, and eight percent interest on the verdict computed over that same period, either added to a plaintiff-offeror's recovery or subtracted from what a defendant-offeror owes.
Can I withdraw an offer of judgment once I've made it?
Yes. Rule 68(a) allows an offeror to withdraw an offer any time before it is accepted or before it would be deemed rejected, by giving notice to the offeree or the offeree's attorney under the rule's service provisions.
If I make a counteroffer, does that cancel the original offer of judgment?
No. Rule 68(a) specifically states that a counteroffer does not cause the original offer to be considered rejected; the original offer stays open until it is accepted, rejected under the timing rules, or withdrawn.
Source & verification. Rule text, official Notes, and amendment
history are reproduced verbatim from the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure,
adopted by the Supreme Court of South Carolina. Last verified July 13, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: offer of judgmentrule 68 south carolinasettlement offer costs shiftingsc offer to allow judgmentrejected offer interest penalty