Attorney’s Fees, Transportation/Lodging, and Appellate Expenses Appropriate Under 42 U.S.C. § 11607(b)(3).
42 U.S.C. § 11607(b)(3) provides that a court “ordering the return of a child” under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction shall award “necessary expenses incurred by or on behalf of the petitioner . . . unless the respondent establishes that such order would be clearly inappropriate.”
In Cuellar v. Joyce, Case No. 09-35068 (9th Cir. May 7, 2010) (for publication), the Ninth Circuit decided that pro bono lawyer services to a successful petitioner, reasonable transportation and lodging for her attorney to attend oral argument and post-argument mediation, and the cost of shipping appellate briefs and other filings are within the ambit of expenses recoverable under section 11607(b)(3).
To listen to an audio of the November 4, 2009 argument to the Ninth Circuit in the underlying case, click here. The panel consisted of Justices Kozinski, Fisher, and Paez.