Lawrence S. Katz is a Fellow in The International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL)[1]. He focuses his practice on family law, complex jurisdictional issues, interstate and international cross border family law as well as child abduction. He has practiced law for five decades.
In 2010, the U.S. Chapter of the IAFL established the Bill Hilton Memorial Award for Exceptional Contributions to International Family Law. A Fellow cannot apply, and it is not an annual award. The first time it was given was in June 2014 and Mr. Katz was a recipient. This is the highest and only such award given by the U.S.
Chapter of the IAFL.
He has been counsel of record, mentored or consulted in about 400 Hague Convention and child abduction cases. Mr. Katz was the first and in the majority of cases, the only U.S. attorney to recover children from: Turkey, (non-Hague) Iran, Saudi Arabia and Japan (using “Special Family Circumstances”) as well as to return children to Haiti, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Russia and Trinidad. Mr. Katz also conducted the first mediation in a Hague case in a pilot program for NCMEC and the U.S. Dept. of State in November 2005. He continues to mediate only child abduction cases.
Mr. Katz has lectured and published on international relocation for the ABA, a portion of the article was quoted by the Georgia S. Ct. in Sahibzada v. Sahibzada, 2014 Ga. LEXIS 219 (S.Ct. Ga. 2014). He has successfully represented clients in international relocation cases and responsible for drafting the relevant portions of the agreement and final decrees with respect to relocation, jurisdiction, homologation and enforcement. He has litigated international relocation cases: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. In 2012 he testified as an expert and prepared provisions of the final judgment (7 pages) permitting a mother to relocate to Argentina with her two minor children. In 2013, he was co-counsel in relocation from the U.K. to Florida. He has often drafted proposed language and given written opinions that has been utilized by foreign courts for custody, residency, relocation and Hague orders.
Mr. Katz has testified on numerous occasions as an expert witness in international matters especially concerning The Hague Abduction Convention, relocation, abduction factors/profiles, preventive measures, drafting and enforcement of court orders. In July 2013-present, his testimony resulted in orders that prevented travel of children to Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Japan and Russia. Likewise, he has testified that has permitted cross border travel of children. The last case in 2023 permitted the child to travel to Chile. He has been requested by various courts to draft provisions of orders or decrees. In addition, he is retained as counsel, consultant, co-counsel or an expert for: complex jurisdictional cases; drafting provisions of agreements, court orders, judgments; international abduction cases, preventive measures, travel, and international or interstate relocations.
[1]“The IAFL is a worldwide association of practicing lawyers who are recognized by their peers as the most experienced and expert family law specialists in their respective countries” www.IAFL.com
