Advanced Topics And The Hague Abduction Convention

8:30-9:00am Sign In

9:00-9:30am Welcome Address by Richard Min & Melissa Kucinski

9:30-10:30am Privileges and Immunities and the Hague Abduction Convention – the Impact on Military Members and Diplomats who are Sent Overseas (1.0 NY CLE credit)

There are added complexities when a family member who is protected by certain privileges and immunities abducts (or seeks the return of) their child. Panelists will explore what privileges and immunities exist for diplomats and military members and how practitioners should view and understand these privileges when representing a petitioner or respondent in a Hague Abduction Convention matter.

Speakers:

Frances Auchincloss Goldsmith; Libra Avocats (Paris, France)

Phillip Tucker, Esquire; Doerner Saunders Daniel & Anderson, LLP (Edmond, OK)

10:30-11:00am Networking Coffee Break

11:00am-12:00pm Refugees and the Hague Abduction Convention – Article 20, the Geneva Convention on Refugees, and Returning Children under the Abduction Convention (1.0 NY CLE credit)

When a parent abducts their child to flee persecution, or a well-founded fear of future persecution in their home country, there are a variety of arguments that might be implicated when the parent remaining in the home country seeks to have the child returned under the Hague Abduction Convention. Panelists will explore the interplay between the Abduction Convention and certain other international instruments and legal arguments that impact upon a request to have a child returned to their habitual residence.

Speakers:

Rebecca McKelvey Castaneda, Esquire; Stites & Harbison, PLLC (Nashville, TN)

Raquel Salinas Peixoto; PhD Candidate at the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam School for Regional, Transnational and European Studies (ARTES) and Center for Latin American Research and Documentation (CEDLA), The Netherlands (The Hague, NL)

Box Lunches will be Provided

1:30-2:30pm Advanced Procedural Issues in Hague Abduction Convention cases: Younger, Rooker-Feldman, child’s counsel, interpreters & translators, etc. (1.0 NY CLE credit)

Practitioners are faced with a variety of procedural wrangling and complicated nuances that could derail their Hague Abduction Convention suit. While the law may, at times, be clear, the process to get from start to finish may not be. Whether practitioners need to argue abstention, federal review of state court actions, lawyers inserting themselves into the litigation on behalf of children, or the difficulty with finding interpreters and translators, anyone undertaking Hague Abduction Convention litigation needs to keep civil procedure rules at the forefront of each step. 

Speakers:

Ashley Tomlinson; Laura Dale & Associates (Houston, TX)

Wendy Hickey; Brick Jones McBrien & Hickey (Boston, MA)

2:30-3:00pm Networking Coffee Break

3:00-4:00pm The Abduction Convention and Shaping U.S. Jurisprudence: Monasky, Golan, and the Changing Face of the Convention (1.0 NY CLE credit)

The U.S. Supreme Court has entertained five separate Hague Abduction Convention matters, with the most recent two yielding opinions in 2020 and 2022. In addition, Abduction Convention cases can be brought in federal and state courts, throughout the United States. This has led to a wide range of appellate caselaw, including conflicting views and application of the law, for practitioners to follow. Panelists will review the most recent caselaw and explore how it has been impacting litigation of Hague Abduction Convention matters since.

Speakers:

Stephen J. Cullen; Miles & Stockbridge, PC (Washington, D.C.)

Richard Min; Green Kaminer Min & Rockmore, LLP (New York, NY)