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.
