June.04.2013
Rene Kathawala, supervised by Laurie Strauch Weiss, secured a resounding victory in the New York City Family Court for a single father involved in an international legal battle concerning his 7-year-old son.
This case began when the boy's mother—a resident of the Dominican Republic—sued our client under the Hague Convention for allegedly "kidnapping" the child. Represented by a Ropes & Gray pro bono team, she alleged that our client had refused to return the child after a temporary visit in 2009. The mother commenced her federal court case in January 2011—a full year after she claimed that the client was supposed to return the child to the Dominican Republic.
In contrast to the allegations in her federal complaint, the facts revealed that while in New York, our client enrolled his son in a public school, secured special educational services for the child’s speech problem, took him regularly to church and created an environment where he developed many friends.
Wishing to avoid litigation, the client decided to settle, admitting no wrongdoing and agreeing to allow the mother to regain primary physical custody of the child, but in return, obtaining visitation rights with his son in the United States. The mother, however, refused to enter into the visitation agreement once her son was returned to the Dominican Republic.
Back in the United States, Rene helped the client file a visitation petition with the Family Court in New York. In response, the mother filed a motion to dismiss the visitation petition based on our client's alleged unjustifiable conduct—relying on the same allegations made in the federal court Hague Convention case.
The Court denied the mother's motion and held a hearing on the visitation petition itself, in which the mother failed to appear, and Ropes & Gray moved to withdraw as the mother's counsel prior to the start of that hearing. Ultimately, the Court awarded our client more visitation rights than he was entitled to under the prior federal court settlement agreement.
The client noted, "Rene destroyed the mother's credibility and gave me confidence to prove that I did nothing wrong in seeking to care for my son here in the U.S. and providing him with the excellent opportunities he was granted. I am grateful to Rene and Orrick for their support and belief in me."
The client was initially represented by former associate Scott Bridge. In addition to Rene Kathawala and Laurie Strauch Weiss, support was also provided by Misasha Suzuki, Eliza Golden, Michelle McKeown, Luis Fermin and Shannon Quaglierini.