The area of international child abduction and litigation has gained much media exposure during the past year. It is an area fraught with peril for a parent whose child has been unlawfully removed from the United States, or from another country. Proceedings to regain custody of a child are governed, in many countries, by the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction and in the United States by the Hague Convention and the International Child Abduction Remedies Act. Most family law attorneys try to steer clear of this area and its technical components. That is not the case for our law firm. Although these cases are fraught with emotion, and frequently require an intensive application of time and effort by counsel, we find them both challenging and rewarding. We thought you might be interested in our most recent case.

Our client, Mr. N., had married his wife, who was a Mexican National in California in the 1980s and had two children together. When the children were very young, the couple decided to move permanently to Mexico City, where Mrs. N. was originally from. Ultimately the marriage broke down and the parties separated. They remained in Mexico City and shared custody of their children pursuant to a Mexican custody agreement entered into after their separation. In 1992, Wife left with the children for several months without the knowledge or consent of their father. After instituting proceedings in the Mexican courts, mother returned with the children and a new custody order was made. Pursuant to that order, Mr. N. had the children each afternoon and evening, as well as alternating weekends. The parties also shared summer vacation. At the conclusion of Mr. Ns vacation time with the children in 1994, he returned them to their mother who was to take her vacation time with them. Mother went on vacation with the children, but did not return. Upon realizing that the children were not coming home, Mr. N. filed a petition under the Hague Convention with the Mexican authorities and began searching for his children. Through the use of a private investigator, Mr. N. discovered that the children and their mother were residing in Miami, along with a man that their mother had claimed to have married (the Mexican divorce was not final at the time of this marriage). At the time that the children were found in Florida, Mr. N. traveled to Miami and attempted to regain custody of the children through proceedings under the Hague Convention which were handled by a Florida attorney. Unfortunately, the court in Florida failed to immediately order the return of the children to Mexico. Instead, the court ordered their mother to appear in court. When she failed to do so and father attempted to enforce that order, mother and both children once again vanished. Father's order for return of the children, which he obtained thereafter, went unfulfilled and the search began anew. All of the efforts that Mr. N. had made up to this point in time seemed for naught.

Ultimately, mother, her new husband and both children were located in Los Angeles. Mr. N. engaged our firm to represent him in proceedings to obtain an order allowing him to return the children to Mexico City. In the course of our representation we uncovered a five-year long trail of deception intended to prevent our client from locating his children. The children's mother obtained fraudulent social security cards and birth certificates for the children, as well as herself, changed her name and the children's names and moved the children between various schools, as well as having engaged in other similar conduct. Once again being close to regaining the children, through our representation of Mr. N in Los Angeles Superior Court, we obtained an order for the immediate return of the children to Mexico with their father. In addition to that, we assisted our client in arranging for the safe passage of the children to Mexico with him, without interference from the children's mother.

Our past newsletters have told you about our web site and the success we have experienced regarding the same. As part of our continuing effort to provide better client service through the use of technology, including the Internet, we are pleased to announce the opening of a password protected section of our web site which will provide information and items of use to our clients. In the first phase of this ongoing project, which we will continue to expand upon, we have three facilities available to clients. Those facilities include the following:

We welcome feedback and suggestions from our clients as to ways in which we can provide better service through the web site. Feel free to send us your comments, place a call, or drop us a note. To e-mail us, send messages to