Rule 16.1 - Expedited or Non-Expedited Track Assignment Based on Case Characteristics; Discovery Limitations; Trial Setting(a)Assignment of case to expedited track. Except for cases exempted by Rule 16.1(b) of this Rule, the court, for discovery and case management purposes, may upon the agreement of the parties, designate the case for an expedited track through the scheduling order issued pursuant to Rule 16(b) of these Rules. The purpose of the expedited track is to secure the just, speedy, and efficient resolution of cases by placing them into an appropriate pathway based on considerations of fairness, cost-effectiveness, and expedition. (1) In assigning a case to an expedited track, the court may take into consideration the following factors, with no one factor being dispositive: (A) The degree of readiness of the case for resolution; (B) The number of parties involved, whether there are 2 parties or more than 2 parties, and whether any party is self-represented; (C) The monetary value of the case; (D) The number and complexity of the issues to be resolved; (E) The number, extent, and nature of the claims; (F) The volume and extent of discovery necessary;(G) The number of witnesses, experts, and documents; (H) Any other factor the court determines is relevant to fulfilling the purpose of the expedited-track assignment. Based upon these factors, the court by order may assign cases that can be streamlined, managed with a minimum of court involvement, and expedited to resolution within 9 months of the scheduling conference to the expedited track. (2) Any party may, based upon a showing of good cause, request that a case originally assigned to the expedited track be removed from it. (b)Exempt actions. The following categories of actions are exempt from the provisions of this Rule 16.1. (2) cases included in and not exempted from the Court Annexed Arbitration Program established by Hawai.i Revised Statutes § 601-20; (3) agency appeals pursuant to Hawai.i Revised Statutes; (4) consumer debt collection; (c)Limitations on discovery in expedited track cases. (1) For cases assigned to the expedited track, each party shall be subject to the following limitations on discovery: (A) no more than 4 oral depositions with a cumulative time of 16 hours on the record; and (B) no more than a total of 35, in any combination, of interrogatories, including subparts, under Rule 33 of these Rules, requests for documents under Rule 34 of these Rules, and requests for admissions under Rule 36 of these Rules. (2) To obtain discovery beyond the limitations on discovery established in Rule 16.1(c)(1) of this Rule, a party must file either: (A) a request for discovery beyond the expedited track limits, by motion or request for streamlined assistance under Rule 15.1 of the Rules of Circuit Courts of the State of Hawai.i, setting forth why that discovery is necessary and why its burden or expense will not outweigh its likely benefit under Rule 26(b)(2)(iii) of these Rules, and where appropriate, attaching the proposed discovery, or in the case of a request for deposition, describing the anticipated discovery, and attaching a declaration or affidavit certifying a good faith effort to confer with the other party(ies) about the discovery; or (B) a stipulation, approved by the court, that discovery beyond the expedited track limits is necessary, that the burden or expense of the discovery will not outweigh its likely benefit under Rule 26(b)(2)(iii) of these Rules, and that the discovery is agreed to by the parties. (d)Trial setting for expedited track and non-expedited track cases.(1) For cases assigned to the expedited track, the court shall, at the initial scheduling conference, set trial to commence within 9 months of that conference. (2) For cases not assigned to the expedited track that are subject to this Rule 16.1 and are not exempt actions under Rule 12(b)(1) of the Rules of the Circuit Courts of the State of Hawai.i, the court shall, at the initial scheduling conference, set trial to commence within 12 months of that conference unless a party requests a trial date after that period. Upon the request of any party at the initial scheduling conference, after reviewing the materials submitted, and considering the relative positions of all parties, the court may set trial to commence after 12 months but no later than 18 months after the conference. In determining whether and when to set trial to commence within the 12-to- 18 month time frame, the court may consider the relative complexity of the case. (3) After the trial date has been set, any party may file a motion seeking to advance the trial date. (4) Upon motion by any party in an expedited-track or nonexpedited track case, the court may continue the trial for good cause.Adopted and former Rule 16.1 renumbered as 16.2 October 8, 2020, effective 1/1/2021; amended November 5, 2020, effective 7/1/2021; amended March 30, 2021, effective 1/1/2022; amended August 3, 2021, effective 1/1/2022.