Justice for Kids® – Who We Are

Justice for Kids^®, a division of Kelley Kronenberg, is the premier law practice dedicated to protecting abused, disabled, and injured children who are harmed in child welfare and disability systems. Our mission is to be fierce advocates for children’s rights and to drive systemic change in child welfare through innovative legal strategies throughout the United States.

Unlike most personal injury law firms, JFK specializes in representing children who’ve been injured by child protection and disability systems. We bring personal injury damages suits and represent children through their parents, foster parents, adoptive parents, guardians, and attorneys in cases in which children have been injured by the negligence or civil rights violations of child protection or disability systems, natural parents, emergency shelters, foster parents, group homes, residential treatment centers, case managers, and other governmental or private child welfare or disability providers. Our mission is to give these children a chance at the future they deserve.

Children are our future, but hundreds of thousands of them who have been abused, neglected or abandoned are placed in foster care and child protection systems nationwide. The glaring reality is that children who are taken into state systems who were supposed to be safe and protected are frequently abused by the systems that were supposed to protect them. There are 29 states with child welfare systems with class actions or consent decrees asserting the systemic deprivations of these children’s most fundamental rights –the right to be safe from harm in the state custody. Casey Family Programs, Class Action Summaries (2025 Update)

New York, California, Illinois, and Florida –to name just a few states all face these class actions and systemic failures while children are being abused in care and fail to receive services that professionals identify that they need. Even in states that are not facing class action lawsuits, far too many children are injured in state care or custody of agencies or private providers that were supposed to protect them. Tens of thousands are left at risk every day, some of them at the hands of their parents and the private agencies and government agencies charged with protecting them. Our child advocacy attorneys are deeply committed to fighting for the rights of children in Florida and are taking this mission across the United States – doing whatever it takes to ensure that they receive the protection they are entitled to under the law. We have been involved in hundreds of cases involving thousands of foster children, mentally handicapped children and others who have been the victims of abuse.

Our lawyers have earned their reputation nationally by achieving precedent-setting verdicts and rulings, delivering multimillion-dollar settlements, and providing pro bono legal counsel that helps our clients on their paths to recovery. (link to Results page)

Our work has also resulted in systemic reform that has helped at-risk children avoid injury, harm and damage in foster care and other child welfare settings.

Where other firms may handle foster care damage claims, Justice for Kids® limits its practice to this area and brings a unique approach to the representation of children in all child protection, disability and juvenile settings.

Our creativity in applying the law on behalf of vulnerable children who have been physically abused, sexually abused, or neglected under the care of the state and its contracted private providers, while in foster care and other child protection systems, sets Justice for Kids® apart from other law firms. We pursue cases of negligence and wrongful death and often pursue cases as violations of children’s civil rights with specialized knowledge of these systems.

This has us secure millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements to aid abused, disabled and injured children. Our lawsuits, settlements and case rulings have not only delivered damage awards to children injured or harmed under the state’s care, but the team’s novel approaches have also helped change case law to assist others in the future. As true advocates for our young clients, we help protect their damages recovery by establishing life care plans, which are protected by trusts and structured settlements intended to serve the needs of children often facing a lifetime of specialized care

Our creativity in applying the law on behalf of vulnerable children — those who’ve been physically, sexually, or emotionally abused under the state’s care — sets Justice for Kids® apart. We pursue negligence, wrongful-death, and civil-rights cases with deep system knowledge and compassion.

Our innovative legal strategies have helped secure millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for abused, disabled, and injured children. These victories not only compensate victims but also change case law — protecting future children from the same failures.

As true advocates, we safeguard children’s recoveries through life-care plans, structured settlements, and trusts — ensuring resources for a lifetime of specialized care.

The firm’s team of experienced children’s rights attorneys began their work in the late nineteen eighties and is now led by founding partners and Business Unit Leader Howard Talenfeld, Justin Grosz and Stacie Schmerling. These advocates are nationally recognized for almost their decades of work with foster care and disabilities class action and damages claims throughout the country and systemic reform advocacy.

Justice for Kids^® has a unique approach to fighting for the rights of children abused and neglected in the state’s child welfare system which stems from Howard Talenfeld’s prior work for the agencies he now seeks to hold accountable. In the 1980s and 1990s, Howard served as outside counsel to the State of Florida Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services where he defended the agency against class action litigations involving Florida’s dependency, disability, delinquency, children’s mental health and Medicaid systems for children and adults. Inspired by Secretary Greg Coler, Howard utilized unique defenses protecting Florida’s right to fix these broken systems through major corrective action plans, without ceding the state’s sovereignty by stipulating to enter into Consent Decrees in Federal Court.

Howard advocated for hundreds of millions of dollars in appropriations by the Florida Legislature. As Chair of the National Association for State mental Health Attorneys Class Action Committee, he surveyed the nation and compiled a document, “The Cost of Injunctive Relief,” in which he made the argument that it was more cost effective for states to just fix broken and unconstitutional child welfare, mental health and disability systems than to enter into Consent Decrees. He presented this thesis to the state leaders of the American Public Welfare Association. He also testified to Congress on the subject. Read more:  https://books.google.com/books?id=rbhsOlW5XrQC&pg=PA34&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false

Howard later decided to use his knowledge and experience with his team to aggressively protect the rights of at-risk children. A 1998 class action lawsuit, Ward v. Kearney, brought by Howard Talenfeld with the Youth Law Center against the Florida Department of Children and Family Services (“DCF”), resulted in a consent decree that established institutional reforms in the Broward County, Florida foster care system and almost tripled the state’s budget for Broward County’s child welfare system.

In 2007, Howard and his team secured a more than $14 million settlement, the largest recovery of its kind ever in Florida, for 20 foster children who were abused in a foster home.

In 2008, Stacie J. Schmerling who was a veteran child abuse case worker and investigator and who had a decade of experience working in the child welfare systems in New Jersey and Florida began working alongside Howard.

In 2008, the case of H.A.L. v. Foltz, 551 F.3d 1227 (11th Cir. 2008), resulted in the landmark Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision recognizing that exposing foster children to child-on-child sexual abuse in foster care is a viable claim under the Federal Civil Rights Act 42 USC § 1983. This case paved the way to protect many other children in Florida and throughout the country who are sexually abused in foster care.

In 2012, using this novel approach of applying civil rights law, the team prevailed against New York City and the Archdiocese of Brooklyn, which together paid more than $27 million in the case of Judith Leekin. Using four phony aliases, Judith Leekin was able to adopt 11 special needs children and collect $1.7 million in adoption subsidy – all while she imprisoned, abused and starved the children in what has been described as a “house of horrors.”

Additionally, Howard oversaw the drafting and passage of the Florida Bill of Rights for Dependent Children (§ 39.4085, Fla. Stat.) and Florida’s first pilot program for attorneys-ad-litem for Dependent Children (§ 39.4086 Fla. Stat.). He was also instrumental in the creation of Florida’s Children First, the state’s pioneering child advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the legal rights of at-risk children, especially those in foster care.

Howard has been equally effective in the state and national capital. He helped write the law that required mandatory reporting of child-on-child sexual abuse and rape in community facilities. He also advocated for and helped encourage passage of and the governor’s signature on House Bill 561 (§ 39.01305/ Appointment of an Attorney for a Dependent Child with Certain Special Needs). The law ensures children who are victims of sexual abuse or sexual trafficking, are on psychotropic medications, or have been committed to a residential treatment facility, have attorneys representing them in all legal or administrative proceedings. Previously, attorneys were not required, leaving the best interests of such children unassured. He has testified to Congress and his 501(C)(3), Florida’s Children First has impacted our nation’s child welfare system.

In June 2020, Howard was appointed by the Florida Bar President to the Florida Bar Legal Needs of Children Committee for the second time, undertaking an ambitious agenda to address trauma to children caused in legal proceedings of all types and working to improve the quality of representation of children by counsel and to address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2020 Justice for Kids^® joined forces extraordinary trial attorney Justin Grosz and nationally expanding law firm  Kelley Kronenberg, P.A. increasing our resources and ability to help even more children in Florida, New York, Illinois and other states. Justin joined the team as a leader and trial attorney, because of his experience in trying hundreds of cases before juries and his unique creativity in investigating cases and creating case strategies. Justin was determined to focus his practice on injured, abused and neglected children as well as catastrophic injury, wrongful death, child safety, and civil rights claims. This partnership allowed Justice for Kids^® to extend our footprint across the United States, fighting tirelessly to ensure that vulnerable children receive the protection and justice they deserve under the law. 

In 2022, Justin Grosz joined the Board of Directors of Florida’s Children First, Florida Children First.

In 2023, Justice for Kids^® team was  back-to-back trial verdicts in Florida, including $4.5 million against the Broward Sheriff’s Office, $13.5 million against Jewish Family and Community Services, Inc., and $15.4 million against Florida Department of Children and Families. 

In 2024, Justice for Kids^® Lead Partners Stacie Schmerling and Justin Grosz recognized among Florida’s “Top 50 Jury Verdicts” for 2023. Also, Howard Talenfeld was named by Forbes Magazine as one of America’s top 200 lawyers in their inaugural list. In 2024,Justin Grosz was recognized as one of our nation’s Lawyers’ of Distinction. In 2024, Howard Talenfeld and Stacie Schmerling were selected as The National Trial Lawyers, Top 100.

In 2025, Howard Talenfeld career was honored by the National Association of Counsel for Children as receiving the “Distinguished Achievement Award,” which has only been given five times in its almost 50-year history. Stacie Schmerling was recognized as a Florida Trend Legal Elite NOTABLE Women Leaders in Law. Justin Gross was again recognized as one of our nation’s Lawyers’ of Distinction.

In 2025, building on Justice for Kids^® recent expansion to Chicago and New York, Justice for Kids^® launched a major expansion plan, with the primary vision of offices in California, Oregon, and Washington D.C. Our long-range plan includes the development of a national team of in-house attorneys and national partners in a law practice focused solely on the representation of foster children and disabled children injured within private systems of care. 

Justice for Kids^® was founded by Howard Talenfeld, one of the nation’s preeminent children’s rights attorneys who has been recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of its 2024 Inaugural list of America’s Top 200 lawyers. For over 35 years, the Justice for Kids® team has been at the forefront of protecting at-risk and foster care children, as well as the developmentally disabled, who have been victims of abuse and neglect.  

Our journey began with groundbreaking legal strategies. Howard was among the first attorneys nationwide to specialize in protecting children in child welfare and disability systems and utilize federal civil rights damage statutes to recover damages for injured children. This innovative approach set the stage for significant victories and systemic changes in child welfare.