 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Kawamata Farms Inc. v. United Agri Products12/11/1997
on for HRCP Rule 60(b)(3) relief. We granted the Plaintiffs' motion to remand on August 19, 1996 and informed the parties that they could submit ten-page briefs limited to the propriety of the relief pursuant to the HRCP Rule 60(b)(3) motion. On August 22, 1996, the circuit court entered findings of fact, Conclusions of law, and an order regarding the Plaintiffs' and Declaratory Defendants' motions for HRCP Rule 60(b)(3) relief and for sanctions against DuPont. On appeal, the Liability Defendants contend, because the Plaintiffs were the prevailing parties, that they were not entitled to affirmative relief from the judgment pursuant to HRCP Rule 60(b)(3) and, furthermore, that any newly discovered misconduct on the part of DuPont did not prevent the Plaintiffs and Declaratory Defendants from fully and fairly presenting their case and/or defense. We disagree.
HRCP Rule 60(b)(3) provides in relevant part:
Rule 60. RELIEF FROM JUDGMENT OR ORDER.
....
(b) Mistakes; Inadvertence; Excusable Neglect; Newly Discovered Evidence; Fraud, Etc. On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or his legal representative from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for the following reasons: ... (3) fraud (whether heretofore denominated intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party.
(Emphasis added).
"When interpreting rules promulgated by the court, principles of statutory construction apply." State v. Baron, 80 Haw. 107, 113, 905 P.2d 613, 619 (1995) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).
The standard of review for statutory construction is well-established. The interpretation of a statute is a question of law which this court reviews de novo. In addition, our foremost obligation is to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the legislature[,] which is to be obtained primarily from the language contained in the statute itself. And where the language of the statute is plain and unambiguous, our only duty is to give effect to its plain and obvious meaning.
State v. Wells, 78 Haw. 373, 376, 894 P.2d 70, 73 (1995) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).
There is no Hawai'i case authority dealing with a HRCP Rule 60(b)(3) motion based on fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct related to discovery; however, Rule HRCP 60(b)(3) is essentially identical to FRCP Rule 60(b)(3), and where we have patterned a rule within the HRCP after an equivalent rule within the FRCP, interpretations of the rule "by the federal courts are deemed to be highly persuasive in the reasoning of this court." Harada, 50 Haw. at 532, 445 P.2d at 380 (1968) (footnote omitted).
In order to obtain relief from judgment "under [FRCP] Rule 60(b)(3), the movant must (1) prove by clear and convincing evidence that the verdict was obtained through fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct, (2) establish that the conduct complained of prevented the losing party from fully and fairly presenting his case or defense." Jones, 921 F.2d at 878-79 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted); Lafarge Conseils et Etudes, S.A., 791 F.2d at 1338; Bunch, 680 F.2d at 1283. Based on the circuit court's findings of fact, the Plaintiffs and Declaratory Defendants failed to satisfy the Jones two-prong test for relief from judgment.
Additionally, according to federal courts, reli
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 Hawaii Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|