In early 2025, Miller Nash was asked to take on a pro bono matter through the Hague Convention Attorney Network, representing a father whose two-year-old was abducted from the United Kingdom by the child’s mother and brought to the United States.
This case arose under the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the “Hague Convention”) and the International Child Abduction Remedies Act. To prevail, our team had to prove: (1) the child is under the age of sixteen, (2) the child had a “habitual residence” in a foreign country that is a signatory to the Convention, (3) the child was removed or retained in breach of the father’s custody rights under the law of the country of habitual residence, and (4) the father was exercising those rights at the time of the child’s wrongful removal or retention. Our team got to work building the case—filing a Hague Petition and other supportive pleadings and gathering critical evidence, including the father’s account, consulate documents, passports, travel documents, WhatsApp messages, and other personal documentation to piece together a full picture of the family’s circumstances. On June 4, 2025, Jakini Ingram appeared before Judge Marsha Pechman, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, to request travel restrictions on the mother. Judge Pechman granted the request in part, imposing travel limitations.
Hague Convention cases are typically on an expedited trial schedule, with a turnaround of approximately six weeks from the time of filing to trial. These cases are rarely mediated due to their highly contentious nature and the complexity of international legal issues. In this instance, however, mediation was pursued—not with the expectation of resolving the claims, but as a strategic opportunity to gather additional information in preparation for trial. Notably, the mediator, Melissa Kucinski, had previously litigated Hague Convention cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, bringing valuable expertise to the process. Because opposing counsel had also litigated and won Hague Convention cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, our team thought the odds were stacked against them. But through exhaustive research and relentless preparation, our team was prepared to dismantle the attempts at keeping the child in the United States.
On Monday, July 14, 2025, the parties attended mediation. The mother was at first not agreeable to the return of the child, but through the persistence, professionalism, and hours of research and writing by our team, Jakini Ingram and Dino Vasquez, with support from Semee Yim, and two Miller Nash summer associates, Vivian Hernández, and Eunhye Fay, our firm was able to secure the voluntary return of the child based on all of our team’s proposed conditions at mediation. The parties were set to go to trial on August 18, 2025, but the child was returned to her home country of the United Kingdom on August 14, 2025, escorted by U.S. Marshals with the passport of the child secured by local counsel for the father.
This case serves as a strong example of our firm’s experience resolving disputes implicating international law and providing meaningful pro bono support on complex cases. Thank you, Jakini, Dino, Semee, Vivian, and Eunhye!