Hawaii post-judgment motions: 10 days, six deadlines the court cannot move, and grounds drawn from history

Hawaii's post-trial rules are short, and two features shape everything about how you use them.

Every deadline is 10 days, running from entry of the judgment. And none of them can be extended — Rule 6(b) names Rules 50(b), 52(b), 59(b), (d) and (e), 60(b), and the appellate rule for a notice of appeal as periods the court has no power to enlarge.

There is no good-cause extension, no excusable-neglect relief, and no stipulation that works.

The grounds are historical

Rule 59(a) does not list causes the way Washington's CR 59(a) or California's CCP 657 do:

A new trial may be granted to all or any of the parties and on all or part of the issues (1) in an action in which there has been a trial by jury, for any of the reasons for which new trials have heretofore been granted in actions at law in the courts of the State; and (2) in an action tried without a jury, for any of the reasons for which rehearings have heretofore been granted in suits in equity in the courts of the State.

This is the federal formulation. The grounds come from the accumulated practice of the courts, not from a numbered list — which means the arguments available on a Hawaii new trial motion are found in case law rather than in the rule.

The practical categories are the familiar ones: irregularity or misconduct affecting a fair trial, accident or surprise, newly discovered evidence, damages that indicate passion or prejudice, insufficiency of the evidence, and error in law at trial. But the rule does not name them, so a motion should be organised around what actually happened rather than around subsections.

Bench trials get a wider remedy. The rest of Rule 59(a):

On a motion for a new trial in an action tried without a jury, the court may open the judgment if one has been entered, take additional testimony, amend findings of fact and conclusions of law or make new findings and conclusions, and direct the entry of a new judgment.

So in a non-jury case the court need not order a new trial at all. It can reopen, hear more, and fix the decision.

Ten days, and no extension

Rule 59(b): "A motion for a new trial shall be filed no later than 10 days after entry of the judgment."

Rule 59(e): "Any motion to alter or amend a judgment shall be filed no later than 10 days after entry of the judgment."

Rule 59(d): "No later than 10 days after entry of judgment the court, on its own, may order a new trial for any reason that would justify granting one on a party's motion."

Three provisions, one number. And the carve-out in Rule 6(b) applies to all of them:

but it may not extend the time for taking any action under Rules 50(b), 52(b), 59(b), (d) and (e) and 60(b) of these rules and Rule 4(a) of the Hawai'i Rules of Appellate Procedure, except to the extent and under the conditions stated in them.

Ten days is more than seven, so Rule 6(a)'s weekend-exclusion rule does not apply — these are 10 calendar days, with only the last-day rule available if day 10 falls on a weekend or holiday.

Compare the neighbours. Washington's CR 59(b) is also 10 days from entry with no extension clause, but adds a requirement to note the motion when filed for hearing within 30 days. Oregon's ORCP 64 F(1) is 10 days "or such further time as the court may allow" — extendable — but imposes a hard 55-day limit on the court to decide. California gives 15 days from notice of entry and a 75-day cliff on the court's power.

Hawaii sets no deadline for the court to rule. The pressure is entirely on the moving party's front end.

Affidavits

Rule 59(c):

When a motion for new trial is based on affidavits, they shall be filed with the motion. The opposing party has 10 days after service to file opposing affidavits, but that period may be extended for up to 20 days, either by the court for good cause or by the parties' written stipulation. The court may permit reply affidavits.

Your supporting affidavits are due with the motion. There is no supplementing later as of right, and because Rule 6(b) blocks extending the 10-day filing deadline, "we will file the affidavits next week" is not available.

Note the asymmetry: the opposition's affidavit period is extendable, by the court or by written stipulation, up to 20 days. The movant's filing deadline is not.

The court acting on its own

Rule 59(d) gives the court two powers.

Ordering a new trial on its own initiative, no later than 10 days after entry, "for any reason that would justify granting one on a party's motion."

Granting a timely motion for a reason not stated in it — "after giving the parties notice and an opportunity to be heard."

In either case, "when granting a new trial on its own initiative or for a reason not stated in a motion, the court shall specify the grounds in its order."

That is worth knowing as a respondent. A motion you have answered on its stated grounds can still be granted on a different one — but not without notice and a hearing first.

Choosing your motion

Hawaii keeps several post-judgment routes separate, and Rule 6(b) makes each deadline unforgiving. Match the problem to the motion before the 10 days run.

Rule 50 and Rule 59 travel together. Rule 50 is captioned "Judgment as a Matter of Law in Jury Trials; Alternative Motion for New Trial; Conditional Rulings," so a party challenging a verdict will normally bring both — the Rule 50(b) motion for judgment, and the alternative new trial motion — and the court's conditional ruling on the second preserves the position if the first is reversed.

Rule 60(a) is the exception to everything above. A clerical mistake can be corrected at any time, on the court's own initiative, and even during an appeal with the appellate court's leave. If what went wrong is a transcription or arithmetic slip rather than a decision, that is the route — and the only one with no clock.

The appeal interacts

Rule 6(b)'s list ends with Rule 4(a) of the Hawai'i Rules of Appellate Procedure — the notice of appeal deadline. The circuit court cannot extend that either, except as that rule itself allows.

Post-judgment motions generally affect when the appeal clock starts, and the appellate rules govern that interaction. This site does not reproduce them. The practical consequence is that a timely Rule 59 motion and an appeal are not alternatives to be chosen at leisure — check the appellate rule's treatment of pending post-judgment motions before you let either deadline run.

And if you need enforcement stopped in the meantime, Rule 62 governs stays. A Rule 59 or Rule 60 motion does not itself suspend the judgment — Rule 60(b) says so in terms.

How Hawaii compares

A short checklist

1. Calendar 10 calendar days from entry — for Rule 50(b), Rule 52(b), Rule 59(b) and Rule 59(e) alike.
2. Assume no extension is available. Rule 6(b) names all of these and the appeal deadline.
3. File your affidavits with the motion. There is no later window for the movant.
4. In a bench trial, ask for the wider remedy — reopening, additional testimony, amended findings, and a new judgment, not just a new trial.
5. Pair Rule 50(b) with an alternative new trial motion where you are challenging a verdict.
6. Organise the motion around what happened, not around subsections. The grounds come from case law, not from a list in the rule.
7. If the court signals a reason you did not raise, you are entitled to notice and a hearing before it grants on that basis.
8. Check the appellate rule before you let anything run. The circuit court cannot extend the notice of appeal either.
9. If you are past 10 days, Rule 60(b) is the route — and if the problem is clerical, Rule 60(a) has no deadline at all.
10. Ask for a stay separately under Rule 62 if enforcement is under way.

Where these rules live

• Haw. R. Civ. P. 6 — Times
• Haw. R. Civ. P. 50 — Judgment as a matter of law in jury trials; alternative motion for new trial
• Haw. R. Civ. P. 52 — Findings by the court
• Haw. R. Civ. P. 54 — Judgments; costs; attorneys' fees
• Haw. R. Civ. P. 58 — Entry of judgment
• Haw. R. Civ. P. 59 — New trials; amendment of judgments
• Haw. R. Civ. P. 60 — Relief from judgment or order
• Haw. R. Civ. P. 62 — Stay of proceedings to enforce a judgment

Appellate deadlines are set by the Hawai'i Rules of Appellate Procedure, which this site doesn't cover, and a post-judgment motion can affect them. This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice.