MBE Rules · Remedies
Prejudgment Interest
Cal. Civ. Code § 3287
The rule
Interest runs as of right on damages certain or calculable from a known day; for unliquidated contract claims the court has discretion from filing, and personal-injury awards generally accrue interest only after a beaten § 998 offer under § 3291.
In plain English
Prejudgment interest is the interest that a plaintiff can claim on damages that are either certain or can be calculated from a specific date. For unliquidated contract claims, the court has the discretion to award interest from the date of filing, while personal injury awards typically only accrue interest after a rejected settlement offer under certain statutory provisions.
Worked example
A plaintiff sues for breach of contract, claiming $50,000 in damages that are not fixed. The court decides to award prejudgment interest starting from the date the lawsuit was filed. The plaintiff receives both the damages and the interest calculated from that date.
Memory hook
Prejudgment interest: it’s about timing your claim to cash in on interest!
The trap
Exams may confuse students by mixing up the rules for liquidated versus unliquidated damages, leading to incorrect assumptions about when interest starts accruing. Students often overlook the specific conditions under which personal injury awards accrue interest.
How examiners test it
Questions often present fact patterns involving both liquidated and unliquidated damages, testing the candidate's ability to identify when prejudgment interest applies and the relevant starting points for accrual.
Drill this rule until it can't fail you.
Vrenberg generates unlimited questions on this exact rule, tracks your mastery of it, and brings it back until it sticks.