At Justice for Kids®, We Fight for Kids
Justice for Kids®, a division of Kelley Kronenberg, is a unique law practice dedicated to providing legal services to protect abused, disabled and injured children in foster care and other child welfare settings in personal injury and damages cases. We also represent children that are sexually abused and victims of sex trafficking.
Justice for Kids was founded by Howard Talenfeld, one of the nation’s preeminent children’s rights attorneys. For more than 25 years, Howard and his team have represented at-risk and foster care children and the developmentally disabled who are victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect in damages cases and personal injury claims. In 2024, he was recognized on Forbes’ inaugural list of America’s Top 200 Lawyers as one of only six lawyers nationally selected for Civil Rights Law.
Justice for Kids Partner and Co-Business Unit Leader Stacie Schmerling is a veteran child abuse case worker and investigator who has 10 years of experience working in the child welfare systems in New Jersey and Florida, and has worked alongside Howard since 2008. Firm Partner and Co-Business Unit Leader Justin D. Grosz is a 25-year veteran trial lawyer and former Assistant State Attorney who focuses his practice on child safety, catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and civil rights.
Our team of attorneys, which recently joined forces with Kelley Kronenberg, has secured millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for abused and injured children.
Our attorneys have avoided state sovereign immunity damages caps and limits through the creative application of federal law to seek novel and successful results for children and their families. We have prevailed in individual cases, class-action lawsuits, federal civil rights claims and negligence claims on behalf of children abused, disabled and injured while under the care of state agencies and their contracted care providers in all settings, including foster homes, group homes, emergency shelters, residential treatment centers, and at home with their parents.
The firm also provides life care planning guidance to those children permanently harmed who have been awarded damages from lawsuits or settlements with government agencies and their privately contracted care providers.
The attorneys at Justice for Kids have a long legacy of public service and pro bono involvement. In 2014, Howard Talenfeld, who is the founding president of Florida’s Children First, co-chaired Citizens for Broward’s Children, the political action committee that fought for and successfully obtained the re-authorization of Broward County Children’s Services Council.
Our insight, experience and impassioned pursuit of damages claims helps ensure our clients’ rights and futures are protected. At Justice for Kids, our singular mission is to protect the rights of Florida’s most vulnerable children.
About Kelley Kronenberg:
Kelley Kronenberg is a multi-practice business law firm with nearly 400 employees, more than 175 attorneys and 12 locations throughout Florida and the United States. Founded in 1980, the firm is one of the fastest-growing law firms in Florida and amongst the largest in the U.S. The firm serves all types and sizes of public and private companies, including small businesses and individuals nationwide.