Opinion ID: 871200
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Appeal and remand to circuit court

Text: On December 10, 2009, pursuant to HRS § 663-15.5(e), [6] Buffington and Integrity appealed the bankruptcy court's December 2, 2009 good faith settlement determination in the adversary proceeding. Buffington and Integrity also filed statements electing to have their appeals heard by the United States District Court for the District of Hawai`i (district court). [7] On December 16, 2009, while the appeal to the district court was pending, the bankruptcy court filed its Order Remanding Adversary Proceeding to State Court. The bankruptcy court's order remanding the adversary proceeding provided: On October 11, 2007, Debtor Hokulani Square, Inc., removed this action, Civil No. 05-1-1708-09, from the Circuit Court of the First Circuit, State of Hawaii, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1452(a). [8] On April 13, 2009, the court entered an Order Regarding Remand of This Adversary Proceeding, setting a deadline of May 15, 2009, for a party to file a motion to withdraw reference of this matter to the district court in order to conduct a jury trial. The order further provided for remand of the action to the state court absent the filing of such a motion. The original deadline was most recently extended to December 15, 2009. No timely motion to withdraw reference has been filed. NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this adversary proceeding is remanded to the Circuit Court of the First Circuit, State of Hawaii, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1452(b). [9] The clerk shall forthwith transmit a certified copy of this order together with a copy of the docket sheet of this adversary proceeding to the clerk of the Circuit Court of the First Circuit. The parties shall be responsible for providing copies of any process and pleadings to the state court. This order does not determine the effect of the remand on the pending appeals of the Order Granting Plaintiffs' Petition for Determination of Good Faith Settlement Pursuant to [HRS] § 663-15.5 Filed on July 21, 2009 (Good Faith Order), entered December 2, 2009. Notwithstanding the remand, the clerk shall accept for filing in this adversary proceeding documents necessary to perfect the appeals, such as a designation of items to be included in the record on appeal and a statement of issues to be presented. [10] On December 22, 2009, Buffington and Integrity each filed, in the circuit court, notices of appeal to the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA), pursuant to HRS § 663-15.5(e), from the bankruptcy court's December 2, 2009 good faith settlement determination. On December 31, 2009, the bankruptcy court sent the following four documents to the circuit court: (1) a certified copy of the bankruptcy court's December 16, 2009 remand order; (2) a Notice of Remand advising the circuit court that the bankruptcy court maintains the official record of its cases and proceedings in electronic format[] and [t]herefore, no case file with paper documents is available for transmission with this notice[,] but that [a] complete set of the documents in this action may be accessed through the Federal Judiciary's centralized electronic records center on the Internet, Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) at http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov[;] (3) a copy of the docket sheet of the adversary proceeding; and (4) a certified copy of the December 2, 2009 good faith settlement determination. The circuit court filed these four documents in the record of the foreclosure action (i.e., Civil No. 05-1-1708) on December 31, 2009. On February 22, 2010, the circuit court record from the foreclosure action, including the four documents transmitted from bankruptcy court, was transmitted to the ICA as the ROA. On April 21, 2010, Buffington and Integrity moved the ICA to modify the ROA to include paper copies of 35 documents filed in the adversary proceeding, including the December 2, 2009 good faith settlement determination. [11] The Changs filed a Statement of No Opposition to the motion.