New Filing in Abbott v. Abbott

Today we filed this reply brief in No. 08-645, Abbott v. Abbott, which will be on the January 16 conference.  At issue in the case is whether a “ne exeat” right, which requires consent from one parent before the other parent may remove the child from his country of habitual residence, is a “right of custody” for purposes of the Hague Convention governing international child abduction.  In addition to our co-counsel, Adair Dyer, team members included Stanford law students JP Schnapper-Casteras and David Schwartz.  The Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law – which is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Convention – filed an amicus brief supporting our petition.  The respondent in the case is represented by Stephen Kinnaird of Paul Hastings; her brief in opposition is available here.  The cert. petition is here.