My Life As A Litigator

As a litigator who has represented clients in an assortment of complex legal matters including but not limited to international family law matters including divorce or child abduction as well as other civil or criminal matters that require my skills as a litigator, my experience and insight has been invaluable to individuals in crisis. As a Board of Director of the I CARE Foundation, I take great pride in playing an important role in an organization that has helped reunite many children of abduction, protected many others from being kidnapped, and has created multiple outreach initiatives to stop abduction and trafficking.

Friday, March 1, 2013

I CARE Foundation To Produce Peter Thomas Senese's Film '150,000 Internationally Kidnapped Chldren'

I am very pleased to share with you that the I CARE Foundation is presently in production of a feature documentary film that focuses on children in crisis due to either the horrific act known as international parental child abduciton or the unthinkable, inhumane act of child slavery and trafficking.  The film, which I am one of the producers of, is being directed by talented storyteller and relentless child advocate Peter Thomas Senese and is titled '150,000 Internationally Kidnapped Children'.

As a Founding Board Member of the I CARE Foundation, it has been a privilage and honor to be able to help families in crisis who have either had a child abducted or who have had a child at risk of kidnapping.  The foundation has made a measurable and impactful difference for many families, including playing important roles in reuniting numerous children with their families while also preventing an even larger number of abductions from occurring.

One of the most important missions of the I CARE Foundation is to steward the social message about the existance of child abduciton in society, while also educating others on what can be done to prevent child kidnapping.

During 2012, the I CARE Foundation has played pivitol roles in over 100 international child abduciton prevention cases.  The primary reason why we were so active was becasue we were successful in getting a message to at-risk parents concering warning signs, risk-factors, and other issues concerning abduction. Truth is, most of these at-risk parents never contemplated the possibility of having their child abducted until they realized the reality that many of the risk factors of abduction were issues they were facing. 

In producing '150,000 Internationally Kidnapped Children', it is the I CARE Foundation's hope to further raise awareness of the many issues surrounding child abduction and child slavery in hope that we will be able to help prevent more children from coming into harms way.

Over the past two years the I CARE Foundation has spent considerable effort delivering numerous messages to the public about child abduciton.  During this same period, and for the first time in 30 years since the United States became a member of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Parental Child Abduction, reported cases of international child abduction originating from the United States has declined by 15% in two consecutive years.  Clearly our efforts are working.

With respect to the film 150,000 Internationally Kidnapped Children, one of the most fascinating components of the film will include incredible real-life footage of a recent rescue of children who were enslaved in Central America and brought into the inhumane world of the sex trade.  Without getting into too much detail at this time, I am happy to report that today these children are all on the road to recovery. 

The film will also deeply focus on the issues of international parental child abduction, and take our audience into a world that could best be described like Peter Thomas Senese's Chasing The Cyclone.

As many of my friends and colleagues know, a portion of my practice is focussed on entertainment law. The majority of my work in this area included representing professional athletes during their careers.  So I am very excited to utilize my knowledge and skill set during the the production of this very important film.

From time to time, I will keep you all updated . . . but it is nice to know we are in production . . . and our volunteer work is making a difference for our society's greatest assets: our children.

Best wishes to all,

Joel S. Walter, Esq
Founding Board Member
The I CARE Foundation







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