Opinion ID: 2632470
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: standard of review

Text: With respect to review of summary judgment, this court has recently stated: We review the circuit court's grant or denial of summary judgment de novo. Yamagata v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 107 Hawai`i 227, 229, 112 P.3d 713, 715 (2005) (citing Hawai`i Cmty. Fed. Credit Union v. Keka, 94 Hawai`i 213, 221, 11 P.3d 1, 9 (2000)). The standard for granting a motion for summary judgment is well established: [S]ummary judgment is appropriate if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. A fact is material if proof of that fact would have the effect of establishing or refuting one of the essential elements of a cause of action or defense asserted by the parties. The evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. In other words, we must view all of the evidence and the inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Querubin v. Thronas, 107 Hawai`i 48, 56, 109 P.3d 689, 697 (2005) (citations omitted) (brackets in original). Orthopedic Assocs. of Hawai`i, Inc. v. Hawaiian Ins. & Guar. Co., Ltd., 109 Hawai`i 185, 194, 124 P.3d 930, 939 (2005). Given that the DLNR Defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings, or, in the alternative, for summary judgment contained three exhibits, including the federal district court's findings of fact, conclusions of law and order in Captain Andy's Sailing, Inc. v. Johns , and also given a variety of other matters outside the pleadings submitted to (and not excluded by) the court, the DLNR Defendants' motion is one for summary judgment, such that this standard of review governs. See Hawai`i Rules of Civil Procedure (HRCP) Rule 12(c) (2000). [19]
This court has previously stated that [t]he existence of jurisdiction is a question of law that we review de novo under the right/wrong standard. Lester v. Rapp, 85 Hawai`i 238, 241, 942 P.2d 502, 505 (1997) (citation omitted).