Who Are The Top International Child Custody & Matrimonial Lawyers In New York City? Joel S. Walter of New York City Is Outstanding

The I CARE Foundation

International divorce and child custody cases are incredibly complex, particularly when their are adversarial parties litigating with one another. 

In my role as the Founding Director of the not-for-profit 'International Child Abduction Research and Enlightenment Foundation', (the 'I CARE Foundation'), I have had a ring-side seat to an enormous number of difficult and highly complex international child custody cases stemming from the nightmare of international parental child abduction. In this capacity, I have had plenty of opportunity to see some of the best and quite frankly some of the less desirable lawyers in the United States litigate these highly sophisticated cases. 

Top New York City
Matrimonial Attorney
Joel S. Walter

Clearly, New York City based attorney Joel S. Walter is in my opinion one of the best international matrimonial lawyers in the country and surely at the top of my list of international divorce and child custody attorneys practicing in New York City and the surrounding area. 

Again, my vantage point comes from my activity as a board member of the I CARE Foundation.  In all due fairness and with transparency, Joel S. Walter also sits on the I CARE Foundation's Board of Directors. 

Mr. Walter was nominated to the I CARE Foundation's Board of Directors one year ago, and was selected with good reason: he is a brilliant lawyer whose practice primarily revolves around complex federal court cases, including challenging international matrimonial disputes and cross-border child kidnapping.  In addition, Mr. Walter, outside of being a highly skilled litigator, possessed an unbowed desire to help children, particularly those who were or may be targeted for abduction.  Combining his legal skill set and desire to make a difference on behalf of others, there was one other trait that Mr. Walter has, and one I know is critical and important for parents dealing with international custody disputes: he knew and respected the law, and in that knowledge, he was able to obtain positive results for his clients. 

"Outside of being a great lawyer, Joel is brutally honest with his clients and does not act with chicanery before the courts."were the words used to describe Joel S. Walter by my good friend, the highly respected Honorable Ronald Aiello, who was the Chief Administrative Judge for New York State Supreme Court in both Kings Country and Richmond (and the inspiration for the character Judge Ronald Pitt in my novel 'The Den of the Assassin') nearly twenty years ago, when Joel and I first became friends.

The sentiment shared by Judge Aiello, who sadly passed several years ago, are sentiments felt by other judges who preside over either cases in New York State Supreme Court or the United States District Courts.   

For those of you who are not aware of the I CARE Foundation, our primary mission, as cited from our official website is as follows: 

 The International Child Abduction Research and Enlightenment Foundation mission is to participate in social and political dialogue that will assist in the prevention of children targeted for international parental child abduction or in the reunification of children who have been wrongfully abducted. At the core of our mission is our ongoing activity to conduct research in the area of international parental child abduction and use our findings to assist policymakers create and uphold laws and policies that will prevent innocent children from abduction. It is our further goal to educate government administrators and lawmakers of our research findings so that this information can assist direct initiatives and policies. We believe it is critical that judges overseeing abduction prevention or reunification cases must become more educated of the complexities that evolve around child abduction cases. It is our intent to play a role in educating the judiciary as well as officers of the court, including lawyers who practice family law. Finally, it is our mission to educate all individuals interested in protecting children from abduction, including parents who have children targeted for abduction so that they may be able to protect their children. At the core of the I CARE Foundation is our mission to help prevent children from being internationally kidnapped through research, education, and empowerment to create and uphold policies that will help children.

What makes me say that Joel S. Walter is one of the best international matrimonial lawyers in New York City and the United States, particularly when it comes to international disputes regarding children?

A Rare Event:
A child comes home

The answer may be found in realizing that Joel S. Walter has been heavily influential in reuniting a large number of internationally abducted children or preventing an even larger number of abductions.  Or maybe it is due to his ability to assist divorcing families resolve highly litigious and complex family court cases in a civil and amicable manner due to his no-nonsense, yet elder-statesmen character that is clearly backed by a great deal of knowledge. Or maybe it is because Mr. Walter is very involved in the I CARE Foundation's federal legislative initiatives concerning two initiatives that will, if passed into law, protect children from abduction or trafficking.

I am proud and honored to work with Joel S. Walter in our fight to stop the growing pandemic of international parental child abduction as a co-member of the I CARE Foundation's board of directors.

Joel S. Walter is not only a top litigator who knows and understands the complexities of international law, and who is highly respected by those he works with or litigates before, but he does something really impressive: he does what he says he is going to do.

Based on the number of children of abduction Joel S. Walter has either helped reunite or prevented abduction from occurring, based on his long-history of practicing complex legal cases before numerous United States Federal Courts for 40 years in consecutive good standing, based upon his willingness to give of himself and come to the aid and protection of defenseless children, and based upon a wealth of knowledge that allows him to work toward successful outcomes for his clients while also working diligently toward creating and implementing new laws that will protect children from abduction, Joel S. Walter is in my opinion one of the best international matrimonial and child custody lawyers in New York City and the United States. 

Mr. Walter is licensed to practice law in New York State. He is also admitted to practice in the following courts:

• Appellate Division, First Department of New York
• The four Federal District Courts of New York (Southern, Eastern, Northern and Western)
• The Federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals

For more information on New York City Attorney Joel S. Walter, please visit his website at: www.internationalparentalchildabduction.com 

New York City Public Libraries May Operate THREE DAYS A Week.

Can someone please tell me why many government leaders at every level think that whenever there is a budget crisis on hand, that its time to cut library funding?

So, earlier this morning I was sipping my morning tea and reading one of the New York City local rags when I first read the article about how Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled a $66 billion dollar revised budget plan yesterday (Friday).

According to Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a possible mayoral contender, “library services will be cut by 29 percent, which means most branches would only be open three days a week.”

Are you kidding me?

Please say you are, because if library branches were to only be open three days a week in our nation’s biggest city with the largest population of children, we sure as heck are going to have a GIANT problem on our hands.

New York City with libraries closed four days a week? There are really no words that come to mind that can properly express the outrage and grave concern of this possibility. After all, we have a moral obligation to our children to keep our magical libraries open . . . just the way our parents helped build and sustain libraries that we all use today.

How big of a disaster is this going to be? The New York City has three independent public library systems. They are: The New York Public Library (which operates libraries in Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island), The Brooklyn Public Library, and the Queensborough Public Library. Each library system has a central library and many local branch libraries. In fact, there are hundreds of local branch libraries – and from experiences I have witnessed with my own eyes, these local branches are substantially utilized by their local patrons.

Did I mention that if Mayor Bloomberg’s budget cuts are approved that there is a good chance our New York City public libraries will only operate three days a week? Well, it appears that this may be true.

This possibility must not be put anywhere near the table.

Our libraries are off limits. It is foolish to remove the one institution in our great city that is the truest, clearest, and most symbolic beacon of hope for mankind to enhance our own existence: our libraries.

Several months ago, I petitioned for the beautiful city of Los Angeles to pass ‘Measure L’, and keep our city’s libraries open. Fortunately, the citizens of Los Angeles overwhelmingly passed ‘Measure L’, and by doing so, actually increased the library’s operating budget to the point where local city branches should in the near future operate seven days a week.

It is inconceivable that the great City of New York and its three central libraries with their hundreds of local branches will operate only three or even four days a week if the mayor’s planned budget is adopted. But that is the reality if Mayor Bloomberg cuts this critically important cultural and learning institutions budget by 29%.

Our libraries are as vital an institution to our great city of New York as any other institution. We must not cut our library’s budget. We must not reduce operation hours and days. And we must not give up on ourselves.

We must keep our libraries open! After all, a book is a free ticket to anywhere in the universe, and our libraries are realm transporters that can take us anywhere.

I know I will do my best to keep our New York City Libraries open. I hope you will, too.

I think I am going to take a walk to midtown, say hello to Leo and Astor, stick my head into the great Map Room, and then walk up the marble stairway before visiting the Great Reading Room at the New York City Central Library on 5th Avenue. But not before I walk by my local branch on Columbus Avenue.

Peter Thomas Senese is a best-selling author and self-professed Librophiliac. He lives in New York and Los Angeles.