SANDRA JEAN DELMONTE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STATE FARM
FIRE AND CASUALTY COMPANY, an Illinois corporation, Defendant-Appellee, and WATANABE ING & KAWASHIMA, a Hawai`i corporation; and DOES 1-50, Defendants and
JAMES RICHARD DELMONTE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STATE FARM
FIRE AND CASUALTY COMPANY, an Illinois corporation, Defendant-Appellee, and WATANABE ING & KAWASHIMA, a Hawai`i corporation; and DOES 1-50, Defendants.
Upon consideration of Plaintiffs-appellants Sandra and James Delmonte's motion for reconsideration of the opinion filed on February 3, 1999, and the record herein,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the motion is granted in part and denied in part. An order amending the opinion shall be filed concurrently with this order. The amendments address the meritorious arguments raised by the Delmontes in their motion for reconsideration.
In all other respects, the Delmontes' motion for reconsideration is denied. It must be emphasized that the Delmontes are not foreclosed from challenging the findings and conclusions of the circuit court in the underlying action on remand. This is implicit in our holding remanding the case for further proceedings on the Delmontes' claims that retained counsel in the underlying action improperly manipulated the outcome to their detriment. The doctrine of collateral estoppel does not prevent the relitigation of the findings of the circuit court because "collateral estoppel cannot apply when the party against whom the earlier decision is asserted did not have a 'full and fair opportunity' to litigate that issue in the earlier case." Pele Defense Fund v. Paty, 73 Haw. 578, 599-600, 837 P.2d 1247, 1261 (1992). The Delmontes' complaint in this action is based upon an allegation that Watanabe did not fairly represent their interests in the underlying case. Because relitigation is not barred by collateral estoppel, the Delmontes may present evidence regarding the underlying claim.
Moreover, insofar as the Delmontes' claims for bad faith, unfair and deceptive practices and breach of fiduciary duty all sought punitive damages as part of the requested relief, and these claims were reinstated by the opinion in this matter, the Delmontes' prayer for punitive damages is still pending with regard to these counts.
Myles T. Yamamoto and
Terrance M. Revere of
Love Yamamoto & Motooka
for plaintiffs-appellants
on the motion