Case Notes

• Jurisdiction: Hawaii,United States
• Citation: Vol. 23 No. 07
• Publication year: 2019

CASE NOTES

Page 13

Appeal Pointer

A stipulation to dismiss an appeal or a motion for voluntary dismissal of an appeal will not be approved by the appellate court unless the stipulation or motion complies with the requirements of HRAP 42.

Supreme Court

Civil Procedure

Villaver v. Sylva, No. SCWC-14-0001086, May 13, 2019, (Wilson, J.). To expedite the often extensive discovery process, Hawaii Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 36 allows a party to a lawsuit to "serve upon any other party a written request" for admissions. Requesting that a party admit the truth of matters of fact, or of the application of law to fact, narrows the issues that must be proven at trial to those that are actually disputed, which fosters more efficient trials. However, because a careless or inexpert litigant might unintentionally admit an entire case by failing to respond to a request for admissions, Haw. R. Civ. P. Rule 36(b) gives the trial court the discretion to permit the withdrawal of the admissions on the motion of an admitting party, so long as withdrawal will facilitate presentation of the merits and will not prejudice the party that obtained the admissions. Courts should exercise this discretion liberally in cases involving pro se litigants, which invoke the judicial system's interest in "promotion of equal access to justice[.]" Waltrip v. TSEnters., Inc., 140 Hawai'i 226, 239, 398 P3d 815, 828 (2016). In this case, claims brought by pro se Petitioner/Petitioner/Plaintiff-Appellant Richard A. Villaver ("Villaver") were dismissed based on his alleged failure to timely respond to a request for admissions—notwithstanding his request that the court provide him with an interpreter to help answer the requests. Villaver was denied the opportunity to exercise the right to a jury trial on the basis of his alleged failure to respond to a request for admissions that asked him to concede he had no claim. Villaver appeals from the judgment of the ICA, which affirmed the order of the circuit court granting summary judgment against Villaver on the basis of his failure to timely respond to the request for admissions. Villaver argued that the ICA erred in affirming the circuit court and that his request for an interpreter should have been construed by the circuit court as a request to withdraw the admissions and file a late response. The Hawaii Supreme Court agreed.

Contract

Nationstar Mortgage LLC v. Kanahele, SCWC-16-0000319, May 1, 2019, (Reck-tenwald, CJ.). In 2006, Daniel...