Geoff Unger, Austin, Litigation

Geoff has been actively involved in pro bono representation in San Antonio and Austin for over a decade.  Having served as counsel to several Central Texas legal services organizations, as an advisor for local area food banks, and as counsel for indigent migrant workers, his pro bono practice has varied according to the needs of his clients. For example, in 2002 - 2003, he represented a Mexican national whose 18-month-old son had been abducted by her estranged husband.  With the husband on the run through three countries and six different states, Geoff led a team of lawyers who not only successfully litigated emergency injunction proceedings in federal (Texas) and state courts (Alaska, Georgia, Florida and Texas) under the Hague Convention, which governs international child abductions, but also successfully tracked down the husband, obtained custody of the child by using federal marshals under direct order from the court, and reunited mother and child for the first time in two years.  While typically focused on local matters, Geoff's practice has also included representing former Holocaust survivors and their families seeking the return of items stolen during World War II, as well as providing research assistance to the Public International Law and Policy Group.