When the Record Is Not Enough: Hawai‘i Supreme Court Requires an EA as a Matter of Law for HEPA Exemptions Not Supported on the Face of the Agency Record Introduction In Ke Kauhulu O Mānā v. Board of...
Rodriguez v. Mauna Kea Resort LLC: The New Requirement to State the Exact Portion of a Service Charge Paid as Tip Income Introduction Rodriguez v. Mauna Kea Resort LLC, 155 Haw. 223 (Haw. 2025),...
Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Clarifies Mandatory Director Indemnification and “Fees-on-Fees” Recovery Loyalty Development Company, Ltd. v. Ching, 154 Haw. 256 (2025) Introduction In Loyalty Development...
Cowan v. Exclusive Resorts PBL1, LLC Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi, Opinion filed 14 August 2025 “Contract-Specific Fee Clauses Defeat Statutory Fees in Assumpsit” 1. Introduction Cowan v. Exclusive...
State v. Lavoie: Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi Restricts Expert-Fee Entitlements at Regular Sentencing and Adopts the “Aggregate” Test for HRS § 706-609 Resentencing Challenges 1. Introduction In State v....
Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Clarifies a 20-Year Statute of Limitations for Mortgage Foreclosures Introduction In The Bank of New York Mellon v. White, SCWC-21-0000400 (Aug. 7 2025), the Hawaiʻi Supreme...
Beyond “Seal or Remove”: The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Defines the Constitutional Limits of Record-Sealing under HRS § 831-3.2(f) Introduction On 4 August 2025 the Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi issued a...
“Implied Dissolution of Litigation Stays upon Reinstatement Orders” Greenspon v. CIT Bank, N.A. — Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi, 29 July 2025 Introduction Greenspon v. CIT Bank, N.A. concerns prolonged...
Expanding Due-Process Standing: Skilled Nursing Facilities Gain Direct Appeal Rights in Hawaiʻi Medicaid Eligibility Disputes Introduction Case: In re FT, by and through Aloha Nursing Rehab Centre v....
Refining the Boundaries of Prosecutorial Misconduct: The “Reasonable-Inference” Rule & Contextual Review after State v. Willis (Haw. 2025) 1. Introduction Case: State of Hawaiʻi v. Erik Willis,...
Beyond Aspirations: Restricting Attorney Discipline to Conduct Expressly Covered By the Hawaiʻi Rules of Professional Conduct Introduction In Office of Disciplinary Counsel v. Zenger, the Supreme...
Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Recasts Punitive-Damages Doctrine and Rejects “Kinship” Fiduciary Duty – A Commentary on Guieb v. Guieb (2025) 1. Introduction Guieb v. Guieb, SCWC-20-0000727 (July 1 2025), is...
Excess Credit as a Condition Precedent: Hawai‘i Supreme Court Limits RETITC Refundability Elections to Credits Exceeding Tax Liability Introduction In Suganuma v. Goodman, SCWC-24-0000229 (Haw. June...
“Temporal Alignment” under HRS § 657-1.8: Criminal Statutes in Force at the Time of Abuse Govern Civil Child-Sexual-Abuse Suits Introduction In Foresman v. Foresman, 154 Haw. 46, cert. granted and...
Prospective Due-Process Notice for Junior Judgment Lienholders in Hawaiʻi Execution Sales 1. Introduction In Winn v. Brady, SCWC-17-0000806 (Haw. June 13 2025), the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court delivered a...
Prospective Constitutional Notice Rights for Junior Judgment Lienholders: An In-Depth Commentary on Winn v. Brady (Haw. 2025) Introduction The Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi’s decision in Winn v. Brady,...
“A Supervisor Switch May Be Reasonable” – The New Hawaiʻi Precedent from Gima v. City & County of Honolulu (Haw. 2025) 1. Introduction In June 2025 the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court issued a landmark opinion...
Fair and Just Reasons for Pre-Sentencing Plea Withdrawal: State v. Walter Introduction State v. Walter is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi, filed June 5, 2025, that clarifies and...
Affirmation of General Duty of Reasonable Care in Prison Workline Injuries and Prohibition of Cost Awards Against Indigent Plaintiffs Introduction In Belford v. State, the Supreme Court of Hawaiʻi...
Final Compensability Determinations Trigger Mandatory Penalties for Late TTD Payments Under HRS § 386-92 Introduction Costa v. County of Hawaiʻi, No. SCWC-18-0000119, decided May 30, 2025 by the...