Calderbank letters and formal settlement offers: Is the Calderbank offer a dead letter?

The article discusses the procedure for making both formal rule-based offers, and informal Calderbank offers, and highlights the potential costs consequences attached to both types of settlement offers. The article contends that the formal mode of making offers is far less onerous in terms of both essential criteria and burden of proof, and far more certain in terms of potential beneficial outcome for the party making the offer. As a consequence, it is postulated that the impact of the current rule-based regimes for making formal settlement offers is such that the Calderbank letter is of negligible relevance in contemporary civil litigation.