Four Decades for Justice
On March 5, 2014, the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Cravath client, Diana Montoya Alvarez, upholding the Second Circuit’s decision to affirm the denial of a petition pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which requested that Ms. Montoya Alvarez’s daughter be returned to her home country, the United Kingdom, for custody proceedings.
The petition was filed by the father of Ms. Montoya Alvarez’s daughter in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in November 2010, more than 16 months after Ms. Montoya Alvarez and her daughter left the United Kingdom to come to the United States. After an evidentiary hearing in February 2011, the district court denied the petition because the child was “now settled” in the United States, a defense to return available where, as here, the petition is filed more than one year after the child’s removal. In October 2012, the Second Circuit affirmed (click here for the related news item). On June 24, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the father’s petition for a writ of certiorari on the issue of whether the one-year period in the “now settled” defense can be equitably tolled. Briefs were filed by the parties and amici, including the Solicitor General, who supported Ms. Montoya Alvarez’s position. Oral argument was held on December 11, 2013. Cravath partner Lauren A. Moskowitz argued on behalf of Ms. Montoya Alvarez before the Second Circuit and the Supreme Court.
The Cravath team included partners Rachel G. Skaistis and Lauren A. Moskowitz and associate Carrie R. Bierman. The case is Lozano v. Montoya Alvarez, No. 12-820 (U.S. Sup. Ct.).
Deals & Cases
February 22, 2024
On February 13, 2024, the New York State Appellate Division, First Department, reversed the convictions of Tommy Davis, who was simultaneously prosecuted for two unrelated incidents involving firearms. Cravath represented Mr. Davis on a pro bono basis alongside co‑counsel at the Office of the Appellate Defender.
Deals & Cases
December 28, 2023
On November 28, 2023, the Queens County Criminal Court entered an order on consent resentencing pro bono client A.M. and securing her release. A.M. had been incarcerated since June 2010. She was originally sentenced in June 2011, pursuant to a plea agreement, to a 20‑year determinate sentence plus five years’ post‑release supervision for first‑degree manslaughter after her romantic partner, who had subjected her to severe domestic abuse, killed her former partner, who had sex trafficked her and also subjected her to severe domestic abuse.
Deals & Cases
October 19, 2023
On August 30, 2023, Judge Leo A. Finston of the Newark Immigration Court granted asylum to a Cravath pro bono client persecuted by gang members in El Salvador.
Deals & Cases
October 12, 2023
On October 4, 2023, an immigration judge (IJ) granted asylum to Cravath pro bono client Johanna R., a transgender woman from El Salvador who had been abused by gang members based on her identity.
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