The discovery rule: when injury isn't obvious right away
Under Pele Defense Fund v. Paty, 73 Haw. 578, 598 (1992), Hawaii's discovery rule can start the statute of limitations clock on the date an injury was discovered, or reasonably should have been discovered, rather than automatically on the date of the underlying incident. This matters most in situations where harm isn't immediately apparent — certain medical conditions, for example, or exposure-related injuries. Expect a vigorous challenge from the defense whenever the discovery rule is argued, which is why experienced legal counsel matters here.
A genuinely distinctive rule for minors in medical tort cases
Hawaii's medical tort statute includes a tolling provision built around a very specific kind of wrongdoing. Under HRS § 657-7.3, the time limitation is tolled for any period during which a parent, guardian, insurer, or health care provider committed fraud or gross negligence, or was party to a collusion in the failure to bring an action on behalf of an injured minor for a medical tort. In other words, if the adults responsible for protecting a child's legal rights actively worked, through fraud or collusion, to prevent a malpractice claim from being brought, that period doesn't count against the child's own deadline.
The same statute also tolls for genuine non-discovery
The same provision separately tolls the time limitation for any period during which a minor's injury or illness, alleged to have arisen from the wrongful act, could not have been discovered through reasonable diligence — a more conventional discovery-based tolling rule layered on top of the fraud-and-collusion provision.
A continuing tort exception
Hawaii courts have also recognized a continuing-tort exception that can toll the statute of limitations. Where an actor continuously diverts water they control onto another's land, for example, causing continuous and substantial damage the actor is aware of, that ongoing conduct can present evidence of a continuing tort — a concept that could extend beyond property disputes to other situations involving ongoing, repeated harm.
What doesn't pause the clock
A genuinely common and costly misunderstanding: actively negotiating a settlement with an insurance company does not toll or pause Hawaii's filing deadline. The clock keeps running the entire time talks are ongoing, regardless of how close the parties seem to a resolution.