Rule 3 - Form of Pleadings and Motions(a) Form. Unless otherwise required by the Hawai'i Electronic Filing and Service Rules, all pleadings and other documents to be filed shall be typewritten, printed, photocopied, or otherwise similarly prepared by a duplication process that will produce clear, permanent and legible copies, upon unruled, opaque, unglazed white paper of standard quality not less than 13 pound weight, 8½ x 11 inches in size with a portrait orientation and each sheet shall have a margin all around of at least 1 inch (except as otherwise provided in paragraph (c) of this rule). Such documents shall be typewritten in heavily inked black ribbon or printed in black. The type shall be standard 12 point pica or equivalent. Copies, but not originals, may be two-sided. The lines on each page shall be double-spaced or one and one-half spaced; provided, however, descriptions of real property and quotations may be single spaced. All pages shall be numbered consecutively at the bottom and shall be firmly bound together at the top. Exhibits may be fastened to pages of the specified size and, when prepared by a machine-copying process, shall be equal to typewritten material in legibility and permanency of image. Signatures and all other handwritten entries on papers shall be in ink. The name of the person signing the pleading or document shall be typed or printed in block letters directly below the signature.(b)No flyleaf shall be attached to any document, except as provided by Rule 9 of the Hawai'i Court Records Rules. If filed conventionally, documents shall be filed without backs. All documents filed shall be neat, clean, legible and free of interlineations.(c)Form of first page. The first page of all documents, except for court forms and except as provided in (d) of this rule, shall be in the following form: (1) The space at the top left of the center of the page shall contain the name, code number, office address, electronic mail address, telephone, and facsimile number of the attorney for the party in whose behalf the document is filed, or of the party if appearing in person; (2) The space at the top right of the center of the page shall be left blank for the use of the clerk of the court;(3) There shall be centered the name of the court, which shall be not less than 3 inches from the top of the page; (4) The space to the left of the center of the page shall contain the title of the cause (which title shall include the names of all of the parties in the initial pleading, but thereafter may be appropriately abbreviated); (5) In the space to the right of the title of the cause, there shall be listed the class and case number followed by the category best describing the claims asserted in the case and followed in all cases by the character of the paper. The category best describing the claims asserted in a civil claims case shall be selected from the following: | Assumpsit |
| Personal Injury |
| Property Damage |
| Replevin |
| Special Proceeding |
| Summary Possession (Residential Lease) |
| Summary Possession (Commercial Lease) |
| Other Civil Action |
(6) Certification or acknowledgement of service may be entered at the bottom margin.(d)Two pleadings filed together. Where 2 or more pleadings or other documents are filed together, only the first page of the first document shall follow all of the requirements of (c) of this rule, and in addition thereto, there shall be listed, after the case number and before the character of the document, the character of all of the documents that are being filed together. The top of the first page of each document other than the first shall start with the name of the court and include the class and case number, the title of the cause and the character of the document, in appropriate spaces as set forth in (c) of this rule.(e)Sanctions. The court may impose sanctions for the non-compliance with these rules. (f)Form furnished by the court. The court shall furnish forms approved by the supreme court, and those forms shall be used in all appropriate instances, unless otherwise permitted by the court. Approved forms may be reproduced through photocopiers, computers or other means. A reproduced form shall be similar in design and content to the approved form. Any person filing a form that is not identical in content to an approved form shall advise the court of the differences by attaching a short explanatory addendum to the document. The court may impose sanctions upon the filing person for failure to comply with this rule. The approved forms or any reproduction thereof permitted by this rule shall not be subject to the format requirements of this rule.(g)Filing by facsimile. When electronically filing is not required, documents and pleadings may be filed by facsimile transmission if permitted by the local administrative judge and clerk.(h)Filing by mail. When electronic filing is not required, documents and pleadings required or permitted to be filed in the district courts may be filed by mail addressed to the clerk, but filing shall not be considered timely unless the documents are received by the clerk within the time fixed for filing. Amended June 21, 1983, partly effective 7/1/1983, fully effective 7/1/1984; further amended April 23, 1984, fully effective 7/1/1984; further amended February 8, 1996; effective 4/1/1996; further amended December 6, 1996, effective12/6/1996; further amended June 23, 1997,and July 2, 1997, effective 8/1/1997; further amended November 4, 1997; effective 12/1/1997; further amended April 23, 2012, effective 6/18/2012.