Breaking Chains: Paul Weiss’ Tireless Advocacy Results in Orthodox Woman Obtaining Long Awaited Jewish Divorce

Steven Cordero

At this year’s Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Awards and Benefit, we’re honoring a team of attorneys from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP for their pro bono work that resulted in a young Orthodox Jewish mother of four receiving long sought after relief in both civil and religious court. Read to learn more.

Steven Cordero is a litigation partner in the New York office of Akerman LLP. He is also a member of Sanctuary’s Pro Bono Council and Co-Chair of this year’s Above and Beyond Pro Bono Awards and Benefit.

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At this year’s Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Awards and Benefit, Sanctuary for Families is honoring a team of attorneys from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP for their pro bono work that resulted in a young Orthodox Jewish mother of four receiving long sought after relief in both civil and religious court.

The multifaceted strategy and tireless advocacy of the Paul Weiss team, comprised of partner Audra Soloway and associates Joshua Kaye, Naomi Morris, Samantha Weinberg, and Jacob Taber (now an associate at Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP), led to a hugely favorable settlement that provided for the client to receive a religious divorce from the Jewish court, child support arrears in civil court, and the withdrawal of her husband’s appeal.

When a Civil Divorce is not Enough

Rachel (not client’s real name) filed for divorce in 2012 (prior to finding Sanctuary for Families). The proceeding languished for several years until Rachel successfully obtained a divorce awarding her full custody of her four children and financial support to help her rebuild her and her children’s lives. Importantly, the judge also directed Rachel’s ex-husband to grant Rachel a Get, which is a Jewish writ of divorce, within 90 days of the court’s decision, or face a financial penalty. Rachel’s ex-husband, however, refused to provide the Get, failed to pay child support, and appealed the divorce judgment.

Rachel was particularly devastated by her ex-husband’s refusal to grant her a Get. According to Jewish law, a marriage can only be dissolved once a husband voluntarily gives the Get to his wife. Even if there is a civil divorce, the couple remains married under Jewish law without the Get. The Get is tied to the wife’s identity.  Orthodox Jewish women who are refused a Get by their husbands are called agunot, or chained women. They cannot remarry, any new relationship is considered adultery, and any children from those new relationships would be deemed to be illegitimate.

A husband’s refusal to grant a Get when the marriage is over is a form of domestic violence because it is an assertion of power and control over the wife, with potential economic and social ramifications that are unique to Orthodox communities. The husband may withhold the Get to extort concessions from the wife in divorce negotiations, such as the waiver of financial support, the payment of a large sum of money to the husband, or even the surrender of custody of the children.

Indeed, here Rachel’s ex-husband wielded his refusal to grant a Get in an attempt to force Rachel to agree to vacate the divorce judgment and sign a stipulation more favorable to him. Desperate, Rachel turned to Sanctuary for Families’ Orthodox Jewish Matrimonial Project for help.

Paul Weiss’ Multifaceted and Steadfast Advocacy

Recognizing the pressures Rachel faced, the pro bono team at Paul Weiss went on the offensive and filed a motion for contempt against Rachel’s ex-husband for his failure to pay child support.  The Paul Weiss team deftly countered the ex-husband’s dubious litigation tactics that included filing a baseless downward modification of child support petition and changing litigation counsel while having his personal lawyer outside of court attempt to assert pressure on Rachel to sign away her rights.

The Paul Weiss team mounted a multi-tiered strategy that included simultaneously preparing for trial on the contempt hearing, analyzing the ex-husband’s appellant brief and preparing to draft Rachel’s respondent’s brief, and negotiating a settlement that would protect Rachel’s rights and enable her to receive a Get.

The Paul Weiss team skillfully engaged in challenging negotiations, leveraging their strong appeal arguments and excellent trial preparation in the contempt matter. Because of their steadfast representation, Rachel’s ex-husband ultimately relented in his strategy shortly before the contempt hearing and agreed to a favorable settlement in May 2018.

Rachel’s ex-husband paid her a lump sum for the child support arrears, withdrew his appeal, and gave her the Jewish divorce she was entitled.  The Paul Weiss team accompanied Rachel to the Jewish court, the Beit Din, where she finally received her Get. Reflecting on their work, Joshua Kaye said:

“It was a tremendously rewarding experience. We faced new challenges and used our tools as litigators to make the client’s life better.”

Securing a Better Life

Thanks to the hard work of Paul Weiss’ talented pro bono lawyers, Rachel is able to move forward with her life in a far better position than she was when she came to Sanctuary for help more than a year ago.

When asked about her firm’s pro bono experience with Sanctuary, Naomi Morris said:

“I appreciated our co-counsels’ insight into the process, their experience, and their willingness to take the time to explain what to expect, while giving our team the autonomy to draft papers, counsel the client, and manage the case.”

Mr. Kaye added:

“I encourage any lawyer considering partnering with Sanctuary to just do it. It is a great way for young lawyers to grow, impact someone’s life, and make a real difference.”

 As Rachel herself said about this excellent team: “They were professional, kind and very dedicated!”

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Join us at our Above & Beyond celebration on November 13, 2018, at the RUMI Event Space, 229 W 28th St, New York, NY as we honor Paul Weiss’ outstanding pro bono work.

You can learn more and buy tickets here.  If you can’t join us, but would like to support Sanctuary for Families’ work, please consider making an Above & Beyond donation here.

 

 

Davis Polk Team Achieves Tremendous Financial Victory for Mother of Two

Emily Suran

At this year’s Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Awards and Benefit, Sanctuary for Families is honoring a team of Davis Polk attorneys for their for their pro bono work on behalf of Sanctuary client “Fiona.”

At this year’s Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Awards and Benefit, Sanctuary for Families is honoring a team of Davis Polk & Wardwell attorneys for their pro bono work on behalf of Sanctuary client “Fiona,” a survivor of domestic violence whose abusive ex-husband owed thousands of dollars in child support arrears. The Davis Polk team of partner Joel Cohen and associates Daniel Spitzer, Nick DiMarino, and Rachelle Navarro, working hand in hand with Sanctuary lawyers, not only won a court order compelling the husband to pay $20,000 in overdue support, but also doubled the amount of child support that the children would receive going forward.

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When Fiona came to Sanctuary for Families several years ago, a pro bono team of Davis Polk attorneys helped her obtain a divorce judgment with a stipulation for child support.

In the divorce judgment, Fiona’s ex-husband stipulated to biweekly child support payments and the annual exchange of financial information so the child support order could be updated accordingly. After discovering that her ex-husband had secured a job making significantly more income than he had at the time of the divorce judgment, Fiona returned to Sanctuary for assistance in enforcing the judgment and increasing the child support payments. Once again, Sanctuary turned to Davis Polk for pro bono assistance, and once again, Davis Polk delivered. Partner Joel Cohen and associates Daniel Spitzer, Nick DiMarino and Rachelle Navarro deftly navigated complex procedural questions and obtained a huge financial victory for Fiona and her children.

Procedurally, this case presented “quite a thicket” said Joel Cohen, a litigation partner at Davis Polk. But “the great thing about working with Sanctuary,” he continued, “is that you’re working with experts.” He credited Sanctuary attorneys Dara Sheinfeld and Amanda Norejko with providing excellent guidance and advocacy as the Davis Polk team strategized how to get Fiona the best possible result. Rachelle, a litigation associate at the firm, concurred, adding that “it was wonderful and challenging to constantly be in discussions about the correct procedural path.”

The first filing in Family Court was a petition for enforcement of the divorce judgment, which was supplemented by a petition for modification a few months later. The Family Court granted the team’s request for modification of the amount of child support going forward but denied the petition to enforce and collect past arrears because it believed it lacked jurisdiction to do so.  The pro bono team then prepared an enforcement action in Supreme Court, where they ultimately negotiated an extremely advantageous settlement for Fiona and her children. As a result of their diligent efforts in two separate courts, Fiona now receives twice as much in biweekly child support payments as she did previously, and she was awarded $20,000 in child support arrears.

This was the first Sanctuary for Families case for these Davis Polk litigators, but it certainly won’t be the last. “The work [Sanctuary] does for its clients is broad-ranging and essential,” says Daniel, “and goes far beyond just providing legal services.”Fiona was a particularly engaging client, and the team agrees that the relationship they were able to develop with the client was the most rewarding part of working on her case. As for Fiona, she says she will be forever thankful to her wonderful attorneys:

“Thank you and please continue with your selfless help to other families such as ours. You have left such an indelible mark in our lives forever. We are truly grateful.”

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Join us at our Above & Beyond celebration on October 19, 2016 at the Highline Ballroom as we honor Davis Polk’s outstanding pro bono work.  

Emily Suran is a Project, Energy and Infrastructure Finance associate at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP and currently represents a Sanctuary client seeking asylum. She is also a member of Sanctuary’s Pro Bono Council. 

 

Hogan Lovells Successfully Defends Domestic Violence Survivor

Erin Meyer

At this year’s Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Awards and Benefit, Sanctuary for Families is honoring a team of Hogan Lovells attorneys for their pro bono work on behalf of Sanctuary client “Lin.”

At this year’s Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Awards and Benefit, Sanctuary for Families is honoring a team of Hogan Lovells attorneys for their pro bono work on behalf of Sanctuary client “Lin,” a Malaysian mother of a toddler boy. The Hogan Lovells team of partner Gary Serbin (currently at Kofsky Schwalb LLC), counsel Andrew Behrman (currently at Baker Botts LLP), and associates Nicole Schiavo, Anjum Unwala, and Jordan Estes (currently at the U.S. Department of Justice) fought hard and successfully to reverse a  federal court judgment ordering Lin to pay nearly $300,000 to her abusive husband.

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When Lin came to Sanctuary she had already endured years of severe and repeated physical, sexual, and psychological violence in Singapore at the hands of her husband, a wealthy Iranian businessman.  Some of the incidents took place when she was holding her little boy.

Although Lin repeatedly reported the abuse to the police, sought medical treatment for injuries her husband inflicted on her, and attempted to obtain a civil protective order, she was unable to obtain the protection she and her baby needed. Fearing for her life and her child’s safety, she fled to New York with her son.

Lin’s husband filed a petition in the U.S. District Court in New York, demanding that the son be returned to Singapore pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Granting his attorney’s ex parte application, the District Court judge ordered the child to be seized by federal marshals and given to the father.

Going to trial

At trial Lin testified in detail about her husband’s abuse and the grave danger that she and her child would be in if forced to return to Singapore, and the court admitted into evidence multiple police reports and hospital records documenting the violence. Although U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel found that the father perpetrated multiple acts of domestic violence against the mother, some in the presence of the child, he ordered that the child be returned to Singapore.  The appellate court affirmed this decision.

Lin was heartbroken, but her husband was not through with his abuse.  He asked the District Court to force Lin to pay him $618,000 in legal fees and expenses for costs he incurred in litigating the Hague Convention case. Knowing this would financially devastate their client, Sanctuary turned to Hogan Lovells to fight the fee motion.

An uphill battle

The Hogan Lovells pro bono team rose to the challenge, arguing forcefully to Judge Castel that requiring Lin to pay her husband’s expenses would be “clearly inappropriate” given his history of domestic violence against her and her limited financial means.

Judge Castel rejected their argument that the domestic violence rendered a fee award inappropriate.  Although the team succeeded in reducing the fees by more than half, Judge Castel ordered Lin to pay nearly $300,000 to her abusive husband. 

“We advised Sanctuary that there were grounds to appeal the fee award, but it was highly unlikely that the appellate court would eliminate the fees entirely,” said Nicole Schiavo, a senior associate at Hogan Lovells.

“Nonetheless, we felt very strongly that a victim of abuse should not have to pay her batterer’s expenses, especially when those expenses resulted from the batterer’s own actions that caused the victim to flee.”

Knowing they faced an uphill battle, the team nonetheless filed a notice of appeal and took the fight to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Shortly before New Year’s Eve, Lin’s husband launched a surprise procedural attack on the team’s notice of appeal.  “We got a call from opposing counsel claiming our notice of appeal was defective in that it was filed too late,” said Nicole. “He threatened that he would file a motion to dismiss our appeal as untimely if we didn’t voluntarily withdraw it.”

The Hogan Lovells team worked around the clock over the holiday weekend to respond to the emergency motion to dismiss the appeal.  The motion was ultimately defeated and the appeal was argued by former Hogan Lovells partner Gary Serbin in January 2015.

In March 2016, the Second Circuit issued a ruling that happily surprised everyone – the Court completely reversed Judge Castel’s order and eliminated the fee award in its entirety. 

Setting a new precedent

In an opinion written by Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann, the Second Circuit found that awarding fees to Lin’s abusive husband was “clearly inappropriate” given his “multiple, unilateral acts of intimate partner violence” against her.  Chief Judge Katzmann stated that,

“intimate partner violence in any form is deplorable. It can include a range of behaviors, from a single slap to a lethal blow. However, we need not determine in the matter at hand what quantum of violence must have occurred to warrant a finding that fees are ‘clearly inappropriate,’ given the repeated violence established in the record here.”

“We jumped for joy after reading the decision, which sets a new precedent in the Second Circuit,” explained Nicole. “This decision makes clear that domestic violence alone can make a fees award to an abusive partner clearly inappropriate under the International Child Abduction Remedies Act.”

Reflecting on her experience working on the appeal, Hogan Lovells associate Anjum Unwala said, “We are so pleased that our team’s perseverance and expertise in international law achieved this favorable outcome. Most of all, we hope this decision helps our client move away from an abusive situation and go forward with her life.”

“Working with Sanctuary for Families gave me a true understanding of the tireless work they do as an organization to help those in need,” added Andrew Behrman, former Hogan Lovells counsel and now a partner at Baker Botts. “It was a privilege to play a small part in this case with them.”

For Lin, the Hogan Lovells victory ensured that she will not be impoverished and indebted as she struggles to reunite with her little boy in Singapore.

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Join us at our Above & Beyond celebration on October 19, 2016 at the Highline Ballroom as we honor Hogan Lovells’ outstanding pro bono work.  Learn more about the event here.  If you can’t join us, but would like to support Sanctuary for Family’s work, please consider making an Above & Beyond donation here.

Erin Meyer is the Pro Bono Manager at Proskauer Rose LLP and was formerly a senior associate at Hogan Lovells US LLP.  She is also a member of Sanctuary’s Pro Bono Council and Co-Chair of this year’s Above & Beyond event.