How to calculate Offer Of Judgment Analyzer in New Hampshire

Quick takeaways

• New Hampshire’s offer-of-judgment framework is governed by N.H. Super. Ct. R. 51, which permits a written offer “at any time more than 30 days before trial”.
• Acceptance matters: if the opposing party accepts in writing within 14 days after service, then “judgment shall be entered.”
• DocketMath’s Offer Of Judgment Analyzer for US-NH models those timing rules by taking your offer amount plus the relevant service/acceptance/trial dates and outputting whether the offer is likely treated as valid and whether the “judgment shall be entered” result is triggered.
• The timing you should use is the general/default rule provided by the excerpt. Per your note, no claim-type-specific sub-rule was found, so treat >30 days before trial (serve) and ≤14 days after service (accept, in writing) as the baseline unless your case involves a different rule paragraph that changes the timing.

Disclaimer (not legal advice): This is an educational walkthrough of the mechanics and how to enter inputs into DocketMath. For how the rule applies to your specific case, confirm dates and requirements against the full text of N.H. Super. Ct. R. 51 and your Superior Court filings.

Inputs you need

Before you run DocketMath’s Offer Of Judgment Analyzer (US-NH), collect the inputs below. Getting any of these dates wrong can flip the analysis because Rule 51 is date-driven.

Offer details (financial)

• Offer amount (sum certain): the specific dollar amount offered (e.g., $50,000).
• Offer type check: ensure you’re inputting a sum certain or specified result, since N.H. Super. Ct. R. 51 allows either.
• Party role: identify the offering party (DocketMath’s results can depend on who is offering versus receiving).

Timing details (most critical for US-NH)

• Trial date: the scheduled date “before trial” is measured.
• Offer service date: the date the written offer was served on the other party.
• Acceptance date (if accepted): the date acceptance was made in writing.
• Acceptance in writing: confirm you have written acceptance to support the input.

Service/acceptance workflow (what Rule 51 measures)

• Service-to-trial window: confirm the offer was served more than 30 days before trial.
• Service-to-acceptance window: confirm acceptance occurred within 14 days after service (and in writing).

Jurisdiction selection

• In DocketMath, set Jurisdiction = US-NH so the analyzer applies N.H. Super. Ct. R. 51 timing.

How the calculation works

DocketMath’s Offer Of Judgment Analyzer takes your inputs and applies the jurisdiction-aware mechanics that flow from N.H. Super. Ct. R. 51. For New Hampshire, the excerpted mechanics you provided drive the core branches:

• Service timing: an offer may be served “at any time more than 30 days before trial.”
• Acceptance timing: if the offer is accepted “in writing” within 14 days after service, then “judgment shall be entered.”

Because you noted no claim-type-specific sub-rule was found, the analyzer’s baseline should be treated as the default timing:

• Serve: >30 days before trial
• Accept: within 14 days after service, in writing

1) Timing gate #1: Was the offer served “more than 30 days before trial”?

Rule gate (from N.H. Super. Ct. R. 51): the offer must be served more than 30 days before trial.

How the analyzer will effectively check this:

• Compute the number of days from offer service date → trial date
• Confirm that value is greater than 30

If the computed result is 30 days or fewer, the offer likely fails the baseline Rule 51 “>30 days” requirement.

Practical example (illustrative):

• Offer served: May 1
• Trial: June 30
• Days between: ~60
  ✅ Passes the “more than 30 days” gate.

2) Timing gate #2: Was there written acceptance within 14 days after service?

Rule gate (from N.H. Super. Ct. R. 51): acceptance must be:

• in writing, and
• made within 14 days after service

How the analyzer will effectively check this:

• Compute the number of days from offer service date → acceptance date
• Confirm that the acceptance date is within 14 days
• Also ensure the “in writing” requirement is satisfied (you provide the input)

If acceptance is day 15 or later, then under the baseline mechanics you described, the “accepted within 14 days” trigger would not be met.

3) Outcome branch: “judgment shall be entered” vs. no automatic judgment trigger

Under N.H. Super. Ct. R. 51 (based on the excerpt you provided):

• If accepted in writing within 14 days after service → judgment shall be entered
• If that acceptance timing condition is not met (or acceptance is not in writing), the excerpted “judgment shall be entered” outcome is not automatically triggered under these mechanics.

The analyzer’s output should reflect those branches as you enter whether acceptance was timely and written.

4) How the offer amount affects the modeled results

N.H. Super. Ct. R. 51 contemplates a written offer for:

• a sum certain, or
• a specified result

In practical terms, DocketMath uses the offer amount you enter as the numeric baseline when it models what judgment would be “entered” if the acceptance-triggered branch applies.

What changes when you change the inputs:

• A different offer amount can change the modeled judgment figure.
• A failure on the timing gates can change the outcome branch (so the judgment-triggered modeling may not apply).

Important modeling note: If your real-world offer was not truly a sum certain (or a clearly specified result), you may need to represent it in a way that matches what Rule 51 contemplates, or the numeric output may not reflect how the court would interpret it.

5) Default timing clarity (since no claim-type sub-rule was found)

Because you noted that no claim-type-specific sub-rule was found, use these baseline timings unless you identify a different paragraph that changes the requirements:

• Serve: must be more than 30 days before trial
• Accept: must be within 14 days after service, and in writing

If your procedural context suggests another rule paragraph may apply, re-check the full N.H. Super. Ct. R. 51 text and update your inputs accordingly.

Tip: The biggest user-driven “gotchas” are usually date inputs and whether acceptance was actually written.

6) What to look for in the analyzer’s outputs

When you run /tools/offer-of-judgment-analyzer, focus on:

• Timing validity: does your service date satisfy the >30 days before trial requirement?
• Acceptance validity: does acceptance fall within 14 days after service, and is it in writing?
• Judgment trigger: does the tool indicate the “judgment shall be entered” branch is satisfied?

Common pitfalls

These are the most common reasons offer-of-judgment calculations go wrong when applying N.H. Super. Ct. R. 51 mechanics.

1) Serving within 30 days of trial

• If the tool calculates ≤ 30 days between service and trial, the offer likely fails the baseline “more than 30 days before trial” requirement.

Checklist:

• Confirm offer service date
• Confirm trial date

2) Assuming “acceptance” was informal

• Rule 51 requires acceptance “in writing.”
• If you enter an acceptance date but the acceptance wasn’t actually written (or you can’t support the writing), the analyzer’s “accepted” path may not match reality.

Checklist:

• Acceptance is documented in writing
• Acceptance date corresponds to the written acceptance

3) Counting from the wrong date

• The baseline timing is measured from service, not from filing or some other event.

Checklist:

• Use service date as the start of the 14-day calculation
• Use the correct trial date for the >30-day test

4) Using the wrong jurisdiction setting

• DocketMath’s rules vary by jurisdiction.
• To apply N.H. Super. Ct. R. 51, you must use US-NH.

Checklist:

• Jurisdiction set to US-NH

5) Using a non–sum certain offer amount

• If your offer isn’t a sum certain or doesn’t match the way Rule 51 expects the offer to be expressed, the modeled numeric result may be misleading.

Checklist:

• Enter a specific dollar amount (sum certain) or a clearly specified result
• Avoid ranges if the tool expects a single amount

Sources and references

• N.H. Super. Ct. R. 51 — Offers of judgment
  https://www.courts.nh.gov/our-courts/superior-court/rules-superior-court/superior-court-rules-civil
  Provided excerpt used in this guide includes the key timings:

  • “At any time more than 30 days before trial…”
  • “If within 14 days after service the offer is accepted in writing, judgment shall be entered…”

Next steps

1. Open Docket