Can costs be awarded on a motion even if the underlying case later settles?

Yes. Costs on a specific motion are generally decided based on that motion itself — who brought it, how it was handled, and how it was ultimately resolved — and this can be dealt with independently of whether the broader case later settles. A motion that was contested, argued, and decided by a judge typically results in its own costs award at that time, regardless of what happens with the rest of the case afterward, since the costs of that specific step were already incurred and the motion was already resolved on its own terms.

Where the parties later negotiate an overall settlement of the whole case, they can address any outstanding motion costs as part of that settlement, agreeing to adjust, waive, or fold them into the final resolution, but this requires a specific agreement on that point rather than being automatic just because the case as a whole settled. If a motion's costs were never actually decided or agreed to before the case resolves, this is exactly the kind of loose end that should be addressed explicitly in the settlement discussion. Anyone with an outstanding motion costs issue heading into settlement talks should raise it directly.