By: Julianna Walo, Esquire Illinois’ child welfare system is in crisis, with child advocacy groups increasingly concerned about systematic failures. Despite a landmark ACLU class action lawsuit filed 36 years ago (B.H. v. Johnson) meant to reform the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), the treatment of children in... View Article
Results & verdicts
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Justice for Kids, a division of Kelley Kronenberg, is pleased to announce the division and several of its attorneys have been recognized on Top Verdict’s list of the top 50 plaintiff’s jury verdicts obtained in Florida in 2023. These include: $15 million verdict on behalf of a brain-damaged 8-year-old child in... View Article
DCF Must Pay $15 Million to a Child for Failing to Protect her From Horrific Abuse, a Jury Decided
The Department of Children and Families (DCF) failed to investigate complaints that the mother was using drugs and endangering her child, who suffered “catastrophic” permanent injuries from severe abuse and neglect. The child, H.H., is now eight years old and completely dependent on others for all aspects of her daily... View Article
Family Awarded $13.5 Million for Adoption that Led to Molestation Following a Trial Led by Justice for Kids
Following a seven-day trial led by the Justice for Kids Team, a jury awarded $13.5 million to a family that suffered harm after the adoption agency Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS) failed to warn them about psychological problems that make their adopted son unsafe to be around their daughters, one... View Article
Orlando Sentinel: Jury orders Florida to pay $15 million to Volusia girl tortured by parents
A young girl has been awarded a $15 million verdict against the Florida Department of Children & Families for negligently investigating abuse reports. Stacie Schmerling and Lisa Elliott, attorneys with the Justice for Kids Division of Kelley Kronenberg, represented the eight-year-old girl, who was tortured and suffered permanent traumatic brain... View Article
Jury Awards Father $4.5 Million in Damages in Wrongful Death Case Involving Broward Sheriff’s Office
Christopher Nevarez, the father of Makenzie Nevarez, a 6-month-old baby girl who suffered catastrophic injuries and later passed away from blunt force trauma, has been awarded $4.5 million in damages in a wrongful death case involving the Broward Sheriff’s Office for failure to protect his daughter. Justin Grosz and Stacie... View Article
Sun-Sentinel: Family of baby killed in abuse case seeking $15 million from Broward Sheriff’s Office
Jury deliberations are underway in this Justice for Kids case involving the death of 6-month-old Makenzie Nevarez. Her family is accusing the Broward Sheriff’s Office of negligence. Read more here.
Sun-Sentinel: A baby girl who was the subject of an abuse investigation was killed. Now, a trial begins that accuses child-welfare officials of negligence.
Justice for Kids is in court this week regarding a lawsuit about 6-month-old baby Makenzie Nevarez, whose babysitter went to prison in her death. They have alleged that Broward Sheriff’s Office was negligent, arguing the child protection investigator, under the auspices of the agency at the time, could have done... View Article
A baby died in foster care in Marion. Now two social service agencies face negligence case.
Stacie Schmerling and Lisa Elliott of Kelley Kronenberg’s Justice for Kids Division have filed a lawsuit against two social service agencies on behalf of the estate of an infant who died while in foster care in Marion County. Read more in this article from the Ocala StarBanner here.
Sun-Sentinel: Lawsuit claims Florida hotels didn’t stop sex trafficking
According to an Associated Press article that was published by the Sun-Sentinel, “Two Florida women who were victims of sex trafficking have sued almost two dozen hotels where they were forced to have sex, claiming the businesses did nothing to stop the illegal activity.” Read more here.