Goodell DeVries’s appellate lawyers have once again erased a final judgment exceeding $200 million.
Derek Stikeleather, with Maryland attorneys Peggy Chu, Marianne DePaulo Plant, and Pete Naugle, led the multi-firm appellate team that challenged the $261 million Florida jury verdict against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital (JHACH) in November 2023. After remittitur, the trial court entered a $208 million final judgment in January 2024.
The case was popularized by the 2023 Netflix movie “Take Care of Maya,” and the eight-week trial was broadcast live on Court TV. The Kowalski family’s lawsuit claimed that the hospital staff’s treatment of ten-year-old Maya Kowalski during her three-month stay at JHACH under a dependency-court shelter order traumatized Maya and caused her mother’s suicide. The State of Florida had removed Maya from her parents’ custody because of reasonable suspicions of medical child abuse and ordered her sheltering at the hospital. Although good-faith participation in authorized child-protection activities is immune from lawsuits, the trial court allowed weeks of evidence challenging the immune conduct of not only hospital employees but also State actors from outside the hospital.
On October 29, 2025, the appellate court fully vacated the $208 million final judgment and ordered judgment for the hospital on several claims, including all claims for the mother’s estate, claims for fraudulent billing, claims against Dr. Sally Smith, and claims for punitive damages.
This victory was collaborative. JHACH paired Goodell DeVries’s appellate team (with Derek and Peggy admitted to Florida pro hac vice), with Florida appellate and trial counsel from Baker Lopez (Chris Altenbernd and Eleanor Sills) and Hill Ward Henderson (Howard Hunter, Ethen Shapiro, and David Hughes). Derek Stikeleather presented oral argument to Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal on February 12, 2025. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Children’s Hospital Association, and the Florida Hospital Association filed a pair of amicus briefs supporting JHACH’s position.
This is the second time that Derek has vacated a final judgment that exceeds $200 million. In 2021, Derek’s briefing and oral argument persuaded the Appellate Court of Maryland to overturn a $205 million final judgment against a Baltimore hospital — the largest birth-injury award in U.S. history — and order judgment for the hospital on all counts.
With a recent October 2025 decision, vacating a $34 million jury verdict against a Baltimore hospital, Derek has also led the appellate teams that vacated each of the three largest appeals of birth-injury verdicts in Maryland history.
About Goodell DeVries
Goodell DeVries is a regional law firm with a national presence. Our team of attorneys handles the most complex legal challenges for clients across the country in product liability, mass torts, medical malpractice law, appellate matters, complex commercial litigation, insurance, toxic torts, and more. Our lawyers are ranked among the best in the nation by leading directories, including Benchmark Litigation and Chambers, and we've been named among the top law firms for women by Law360. To learn more, visit www.gdldlaw.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
