Honolulu First Circuit Court Filing Rules

Streamlined discovery-dispute letters must state the submission deadline, discovery cutoff and trial dates, the dispute and requested relief, and a good-faith conferral certification.

Unless the judge orders otherwise, the plaintiff’s settlement offer must precede the defendant’s offer.

The Scheduling Conference Statement must be filed and served no later than seven days before the Scheduling Conference unless the court orders otherwise.

JEFS accepts PDF files only, and a JEFS user's self-prepared document must be converted to PDF.

For conventionally submitted documents, the filing clerk date- and time-stamps the document and electronically files the original.

A requestor must pay reasonable charges for distributing bulk, discrete, or compiled electronic information, including programming, linking, transmission, maintenance, and other attributable costs.

Documents submitted for in camera review must remain electronically secured and accessible only to the court, appellate courts, and court staff until a court orders otherwise.

A continuance of an assigned trial date requires good cause and the client party’s consent, whether or not counsel stipulates.

The court may permit an ex parte motion to exceed memorandum page limits when good cause is shown.

Unless exempt under the Hawaiʻi circuit-court rules, the court must consult attorneys and self-represented parties at a scheduling conference and issue a scheduling order.

A party filing motion-related papers must deliver two file-stamped courtesy copies to the assigned judge’s chambers expeditiously, with attached exhibits appropriately tabbed.

Remote appearances are presumptively prohibited for trials, evidentiary hearings, contested matters, dispositive motions, and settlement conferences, subject to statutory or court exceptions.