The Hawaii Supreme Court has ordered the unsealing of court records in a civil case involving a plastic surgery practice, ruling in favor of media transparency advocates who challenged the sealing of public documents.
The case, Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest v. Kawashima (Hawaii S. Ct. 2025), arose from a petition for mandamus filed by the Civil Beat Law Center seeking to unseal the docket and complaint in a medical malpractice lawsuit. The underlying case involved plaintiff M.K. suing Dr. S. Lawrence Schlesinger and his business entities, including Phoenix Group, LLC, which operates as The Breast Implant Center of Hawaii and Mommy Makeover Institute of Hawaii.
The original lawsuit was filed Nov. 18, 2019, as a publicly accessible civil case in the Circuit Court of the First Circuit. Plaintiff M.K. alleged various tort claims against the plastic surgery defendants. However, the case took an unusual turn when the parties quickly settled and requested that the entire case file be sealed from public access.
On Dec. 10, 2019, just three weeks after the initial filing, the parties submitted a stipulation requesting complete sealing of the case. The circuit court approved this request, effectively removing all public access to what had been a publicly filed lawsuit.
The Civil Beat Law Center challenged this sealing, arguing it violated fundamental principles of court transparency and public access to judicial proceedings. The organization filed a mandamus petition with the Hawaii Supreme Court, contending that the wholesale sealing of an entire civil case without proper justification was improper.
The Hawaii Supreme Court agreed with the Civil Beat Law Center's position, ordering the unsealing of the records. The decision reinforces the principle that court proceedings should generally remain open to public scrutiny unless compelling reasons exist for confidentiality.
This ruling represents a significant victory for court transparency advocates and establishes important precedent regarding the sealing of civil case records in Hawaii. The decision emphasizes that settlement agreements between private parties cannot override the public's right to access court documents without proper judicial review and justification.
The case underscores ongoing tensions in medical malpractice litigation between defendants' privacy interests and the public's right to judicial transparency. While settlements often include confidentiality provisions, this ruling clarifies that such agreements cannot automatically seal entire court files from public view.