Goodell DeVries is pleased to announce that twenty-one of the firm's lawyers have been named to the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©, and another four have been selected for Best Lawyers Ones to Watch for 2026.
Additionally, Derek Stikeleather was named the 2026 Baltimore Lawyer of the Year for Appellate Practice. The Best Lawyers Lawyer of the Year honors are awarded to only one lawyer per practice area in each region with extremely high overall feedback from their peers, making it an exceptional distinction.
Recognition in Best Lawyers is based on a peer review and voting process. The results are analyzed as to professional abilities within geographic regions. This publication is used by in-house counsel to research options for outside legal expertise. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence.
Goodell DeVries congratulates the following attorneys selected for the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America:
Jessica Ayd
- Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
Richard M. Barnes
- Commercial Litigation
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
- Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Bonnie J. Beavan
- Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Malcolm S. Brisker
- Insurance Law
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
- Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Craig S. Brodsky
- Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
- Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Janet A. Forero
- Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
Terri L. Goldberg
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
- Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Jhanelle A. Graham Caldwell
- Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
- Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Sean Gugerty
- Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
Amy B. Heinrich
- Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
Jeffrey J. Hines
- Legal Malpractice Law - Defendants
- Litigation - Labor and Employment
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
- Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
- Professional Malpractice Law - Defendants
Kamil Ismail
- Insurance Law
- Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Kelly Hughes Iverson
- Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
- Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
- Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Joseph S. Johnston
- Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
Shannon M. Madden
- Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
Craig B. Merkle
- Health Care Law
- Litigation - Health Care
- Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
- Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
K. Nichole Nesbitt
Marianne DePaulo Plant
- Health Care Law
- Litigation - Health Care
- Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
Derek M. Stikeleather
- Appellate Practice (also named Baltimore “Lawyer of the Year” 2026 in this practice area)
- Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
Thomas J. S. Waxter III
- Litigation - Construction
- Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Linda S. Woolf
- Bet-the-Company Litigation
- Commercial Litigation
- Litigation - Insurance
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
- Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Best Lawyers Ones to Watch 2026
M. Peggy Chu
- Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
- Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
Ifeanyi O. Ezeigbo
- Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
Jared M. Green
- Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants
Victoria E. Thornton
- Litigation - Intellectual Property