In re Custody of K.F.
Jun 12, 2012OUTCOME: After a 17-day trial, my client won the case for custody of her daughter.
After a 17-day bench trial in which I represented a conscientious and devoted mother, I won a child custody / international move-away case that had been vigorously contested and litigated for almost te ... n years. The opposing party spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and retained teams of top-notch legal professionals. Those lawyers, for whom I do have respect, seemed confident of victory right up until the judge made the ruling in my and my client's favor. By way of background, this case was complicated by a number of factors, including past domestic violence perpetrated by the child's father against the child's mother, allegations (by the perpetrator) that this mother was an "alienating parent", lengthy reunification therapy, and a child custody evaluator who testified that this mother should not be reunited with her child until she recanted past allegations of abuse against the child's father. Fortunately, the judge agreed with me that this mother was a good mother and needed to be immediately and fully reunited with this child. In one of the sweetest moments of my legal career, the judge firmly ruled that it was NOT in this child's best interest to be moved out of the country by her father, and the judge restored immediate joint legal and physical custody (what my client wanted). There is nothing more gratifying than shining the light of truth and having that light be seen. As a mother, this case touched me deeply and changed me profoundly. I am grateful to my client and her child, as well as to her ex-husband, for moving me to a place of greater understanding and compassion about the abiding importance of loving parenting and the impact of family dynamics on children.
