Opinion ID: 2617561
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: Before we consider the merits of this appeal, we must address Weinberg's jurisdictional challenge inasmuch as this court is required to determine if we have jurisdiction in each appeal. Jenkins v. Cades Schutte Fleming & Wright, 76 Hawai`i 115, 119, 869 P.2d 1334, 1338 (1994) (per curiam) (citing Kernan v. Tanaka, 75 Haw. 1, 15, 856 P.2d 1207, 1215 (1993)). Weinberg argues that this court lacks jurisdiction to review the Mauchs' counterclaims because a final judgment pursuant to HRCP Rule 54(b) certification [3] was entered as to the claims in equity only. Thus, he argues that the circuit court's orders entered prior to the equity trial were never certified as final judgments and are, therefore, not appealable. This court may hear appeals from only final judgments, orders, or decrees except as otherwise provided by law. Id. at 118, 869 P.2d at 1337 (citations omitted). An order is not final if the rights of a party remain undetermined or if the matter is retained for further action. Familian Northwest, Inc. v. Central Pacific Boiler & Piping, Ltd., 68 Haw. 368, 370, 714 P.2d 936, 937 (1986); see Jenkins, 76 Hawai`i at 118, 869 P.2d at 1336-37. An order granting a motion for summary judgment, for example, is not a judgment unless it contains appropriate language entering judgment in favor of and against the relevant parties. M.F. Williams, Inc. v. City and County of Honolulu, 3 Haw. App. 319, 322-24, 650 P.2d 599, 603 (1982); see Jenkins, 76 Hawai`i at 118, 869 P.2d at 1337. Thus, [i]f the trial court intends the judgment to be final as far as ... claims or parties [within a multiple-party or multiple-claim action] are concerned, ... it must so state when a party moves for a declaration of finality pursuant to Rule 54(b); and it must do so in the unmistakable terms demanded by the rule.... Absent a certification under Rule 54(b) any order in a multiple-party or multiple-claim action, even if it appears to adjudicate a separable portion of the controversy, is interlocutory. International Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Woods, 69 Haw. 11, 19, 731 P.2d 151, 156 (1987) (quoting 10 C. Wright, A. Miller & M. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2654, at 38 (1983)) (further citations omitted). Specifically, a litigant who would challenge the validity of a decree of foreclosure and an order for the sale of foreclosed property in a multiple-party or multiple-issue setting must seek a certification of finality pursuant to Rule 54(b). International Sav., 69 Haw. at 20, 731 P.2d at 157 (emphasis added). In the instant case, the circuit court granted Weinberg's four motions for summary judgment regarding the Mauchs' claims for: (1) breach of contract; (2) negligence and nondisclosure; (3) conspiracy; and (4) violation of HRS Chapter 480. The circuit court then conducted a jury trial, after which it granted Weinberg's two motions for directed verdict upon concluding that there was no evidence upon which a reasonable juror could: (1) award punitive damages for the Mauchs' claim of interference with contract; (2) find that Weinberg interfered with the Mauchs' right to purchase a one half interest in Lot 1; (3) find that Weinberg interfered with any right of the Mauchs to perform in the Blackwells' stead, as to the lots retained by the Blackwells; or (4) find that the Mauchs suffered actual damages from an interference with their right of first refusal to purchase one half of Lot 1, or their alleged right to purchase the four other lots that had been returned to Weinberg. Thus, prior to the equity trial, there were six orders pertaining to the Anini Vista Estates that Weinberg alleges were not certified as final judgments and therefore not appealable. However, as this court restated in S. Utsunomiya Enters., Inc. v. Moomuku Country Club, 75 Haw. 480, 494-95, 866 P.2d 951, 960, reconsideration denied, 76 Hawai`i 247, 871 P.2d 795 (1994): [W]here the disposition of the case is embodied in several orders, no one of which embraces the entire controversy but collectively does so, it is a necessary inference from 54(b) that the orders collectively constitute a final judgment and ... entry of the last of the series of orders gives finality and appealability to all. (Quoting Island Holidays, Inc. v. Fitzgerald, 58 Haw. 552, 561, 574 P.2d 884, 890 (1978) (citing City & County of Honolulu v. Midkiff, 57 Haw. 273, 275, 554 P.2d 233, 234 (1976))) (emphasis deleted). Thus, in S. Utsunomiya, this court held that when an order is properly certified pursuant to HRCP Rule 54(b), the certification necessarily render[s] every preliminary ruling upon which it was predicated final and appealable as well. 75 Haw. at 495, 866 P.2d at 960. [4] The Mauchs filed a motion for HRCP Rule 54(b) certification on May 20, 1991, which the circuit court granted on May 29, 1991. This order, however, failed to direct the entry of judgment as to the April 18, 1991 findings of fact, conclusions of law and decree of foreclosure and the April 22, 1991 amendment as prescribed by HRCP Rule 54(b). The Mauchs remedied this error with a motion for modification of the May 29, 1991 order, whereby the circuit court, on March 25, 1992, entered the corrected order complete with the required language directing the entry of judgment as to the April 1991 orders. Therefore, certification of the April 18, 1991 findings of fact, conclusions of law and decree of foreclosure and the April 22, 1991 amendment [5] to the order, which resolved all issues remaining between [Weinberg and the Mauchs], rendered every preliminary ruling upon which it was predicated final and appealable as well. Id. Accordingly, the HRCP Rule 54(b) certification served to finalize not only the decree of foreclosure but all of the previous orders leading up to and culminating in the decree of foreclosure. Pursuant to the valid HRCP Rule 54(b) certification, this court has jurisdiction to review the substance of the orders preceding the decree of foreclosure as well as the decree itself.