Volunteering with the Hague Convention Attorney Network

At Kliebert Law, we specialize in providing Fractional General Counsel services to fast-growing businesses. 

But that’s not all we do! 

Our founder, Kate, proudly volunteers with the U.S. State Department as a pro bono attorney who supports left behind parents in international parental kidnapping cases. While these cases are quite different from our everyday clientele and work, they offer a chance for Kliebert Law to support families in a meaningful way and expand our legal knowledge and expertise. 

What cases does the Hague Convention Attorney Network cover?

The Hague Convention is a treaty between 100+ countries that governs several international law issues. One of the things that it does is provide a civil remedy for parents to secure the prompt return of children who are wrongfully taken from their home countries.

The Hague Convention is not in place to decide custody of children, but to decide which country has the right and authority to make the custodial decision.

In many cases of international parental kidnapping, one parent will bring the child to the US while the other parent remains in the home country. The parent who was left behind can file an application with their home country who then submits that application to the US State Department. The State Department will investigate the case, and if legal action is needed, they will pass the case on to a US-based attorney who can pursue return of the child through the U.S. court system. 

For example, say a child is born in Mexico to parents who were married in Mexico, live in Mexico, and raise the child in Mexico until the child is five years old. Then, the parents split up, and one parent moves to the US with the child, without consent from the parent who still lives in Mexico and now can’t see or speak to their child. In that situation, we may be able to file a case in the U.S. court system under the Hague Convention to have the child sent home to Mexico and refer the case to Mexican courts to determine an appropriate custody plan for the child. 

One of the main goals of the Hague Convention is to ensure children are protected and parental rights are not violated. 

How does a business attorney end up working with Hague Convention Cases?

Kate wasn’t always a transactional business attorney. She started out her career as a litigator and first worked on a Hague Convention case while clerking for a judge in New Orleans right after graduating from law school. 

She found the work to be challenging, interesting, and meaningful, so when a partner at the law firm where she was working a few years later asked for support with a volunteer Hague Convention case, she gladly volunteered. 

Now as the owner of her own business law firm, Kate continues to take on pro bono Hague Convention cases. 

In these cases, she will represent the parent who was left behind, and in most cases, Kate is successful in reestablishing the relationship between the removed child and the parent who was left behind. 

Most of the Hague Convention cases she takes on involve parents from Mexico, South American, or Central American countries who cannot afford to hire a US attorney. Many times the clients don’t speak English, and they can feel very isolated and hopeless. Kate is grateful to be able to volunteer to give parents access to her legal expertise and use her skills to reunite families! 

These pro bono cases are very different from the typical work we do at Kliebert Law, and that’s one of the reasons Kate enjoys taking them on! It’s a good professional practice to stretch your skills and mix things up. These are rather niche cases that most family lawyers won’t touch (or don’t even know about!), so it’s important to Kate to continue showing up for these parents in a time of high stress, uncertainty, and emotional distress. 

Working with Kliebert Law

Our regular business clients probably aren’t looking for an attorney to step in and handle a Hague Convention case. 

But you should know that when you work with Kliebert Law, you’re working with an attorney who has a depth of legal knowledge that can only benefit you and a heart and passion for helping others. 

We know that continuing to support the State Department by representing Hague Convention cases on a pro bono basis has a positive impact on our global community and our US clients.