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.

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 1999, Howard employed similar creativity to protect the developmentally disabled. In Baumstein v. Sunrise Communities, 738 So. 2d 420 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999), he led his team of attorneys who successfully argued in the Third District Court of Appeal to establish a private cause of action for damages based upon the violation of Florida’s Bill of Rights for the developmentally disabled under § 393.13, Florida Statutes. This decision was the first to recognize this approach and led to a significant settlement in the case.

Nationally, Howard was one of the first attorneys to utilize the federal civil rights damage statute (42 USC § 1983) to recover damages for injured foster children. In his 2001 case Roe v. Florida Department of Children & Family Services, 176 F. Supp. 2d 1310 (S.D. Fla. 2001), he recovered a $5 million damage award on behalf of six foster children, an amount far in excess of Florida’s then sovereign immunity limit of $200,000. This case was featured on ABC’s 20/20 in May of 2002 and again in December 2006. (Add link)

In 2002, Howard formed Florida’s Children First as its first Board President. This 501(c)(3) not-for-for profit has grown to be Florida’s leading child advocacy organization and one our nation’s most important organizations amplifying the voice of youth in foster care.

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.

Today, the attorneys at Justice for Kids® share a singular mission of pursuing actions against those who harm foster children, the developmentally disabled, and all of our states’ most vulnerable residents. Together, the Justice for Kids® attorneys are responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements, verdicts and services for abused foster and disabled children while the individual lawyers are fighting to help reform in our nation’s foster care and disability systems.