Judge Trims Rates, Hours in Hague Convention Fee Request

An “unquestionably” experienced intellectual property attorney’s lack of experience in child abduction matters requires reducing the fees he billed, a New York federal trial court said.

Moreover his firm agreed to work for free, and thus “did not expect to be paid for its services or reimbursed for its expenses,” U.S. District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, said.

Parents who obtain return of a child under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction are entitled to recoup their legal fees from the kidnapping parent. ...