New Filing: Cert. Petition in Abbott v. Abbott

On Friday we filed this cert. petition in No. 08-645, Abbott v. Abbott.  At issue in the case is whether a ne exeat clause – which precludes a parent from taking his or her child out of the country without the other parent’s permission – is a “right of custody” for purposes of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, thereby requiring the child’s return.  The courts of appeals are divided on this question; moreover, the approach taken by the majority of circuits is at odds with the approach employed by the overwhelming majority of foreign courts that have considered the question.

In addition to Akin Gump and the Stanford Law School Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, our co-counsel on the brief is Adair Dyer of Austin, Texas.  Stanford students Dan Matro, David Schwartz, and JP Schnapper-Casteras worked extensively on the case.