Attorneys representing two sets of clients who lost their Puna homes to lava during the 2018 Kilauea volcano eruption have asked the Hawaii Supreme Court to order a Hilo judge to reverse his dismissal of Lloyd’s of London from their civil lawsuits.
Attorneys Stan Roehrig, Ted Hong, Nathan Roehrig, Brandee Faria and Peter Olson on June 21 filed a petition for a writ of mandamus directed at Hilo Circuit Judge Henry Nakamoto. The lawyers represent Michael Hale and Greg and Carol Dencker.
A writ of mandamus is a legal remedy in which, if granted, a high court orders a lower court or government official “to properly fulfill their official duties or correct an abuse of discretion.”
Nakamoto on June 5 issued an order rejecting Stan Roehrig’s motion for reconsideration of the original dismissal of Lloyd’s from the lawsuits, denying claims by the plaintiffs that Lloyd’s engaged in price-fixing of insurance policies with its underwriters in Hawaii.
Certain Lloyd’s underwriters remain as defendants.
Nakamoto ruled that he didn’t have jurisdiction over Lloyd’s, and that the plaintiffs “alleged no facts supporting the contention that defendant Lloyd’s purposefully directed acts in Hawaii.”
Stan Roehrig, in the petition, claims legal precedent grants Nakamoto jurisdiction over Lloyd’s. Roehrig cited an opinion written by Hawaii Supreme Court Associate Justice Todd Eddins in the 2022 case of Yamashita vs. L.G. Chem Ltd.
Eddins wrote that “acts of the defendant within the state do not need to be the cause of the plaintiff’s injury as long as there is a sufficient relationship between the defendant and the forum.”
The cases of Hale, who lost his Leilani Estates on or about May 9, 2018, and the Denckers, who lost their Kapoho Beach Road home on or about May 27, 2018, have been combined.
The market value of Hale’s property was assessed at $203,700 in 2017, prior to inundation. Roehrig told the Tribune-Herald when the suit was filed that Lloyd’s cut a check to Hale, but it was for an “unreasonable” amount that didn’t cover losses, and that Hale didn’t cash it.
According to their complaint, underwriter Affirmative Risk Management sent the Denckers a check for $325,000 on Oct. 5, 2018, for “building and other structures.”
The Denckers endorsed the check and remitted it, “but it was returned, uncashed, after several months,” their lawsuit alleges.
At a hearing on July 17, Nakamoto set a jury trial for Hale and the Denckers versus the remaining defendants for June 30, 2025.
Attached to the writ petition is a report by Charles Baum, a Middle Tennessee State University economics professor, that concluded Lloyd’s engaged in price-fixing in Hawaii.
In his report — which was commissioned by the plaintiffs — Baum found that in 2017 “Lloyd’s … and six other underwriters … fixed insurance premiums (in) the state of Hawaii.”
No date for the high court to hear the writ petition has been set, but Stan Roehrig requested expedited consideration.
An unrelated 2019 case filed by Puna homeowner Hillary Wilt was settled in 2021, according to court records. Details weren’t disclosed.
Also settled is a federal suit in U.S. District Court in Honolulu. Plaintiffs Stephen and Lucina Aquilina and Donna and Todd Corrigan, all Puna homeowners, settled their suit last year against Lloyd’s underwriters and others, court records indicate.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.