Goodell DeVries is pleased to announce that six of our partners have been honored in the 2026 edition of Benchmark Litigation.
Richard M. Barnes, Kamil Ismail, K. Nichole Nesbitt, Marianne DePaulo Plant, and Derek Stikeleather are named Litigation Stars, a designation bestowed on lawyers who are highly regarded by their peers and possess a strong case record and positive client feedback.
Sean Gugerty is named a Future Star in recognition of his rapidly growing reputation in the litigation market.
Rick Barnes is a founding partner of Goodell DeVries and Chair of the firm’s Product Liability practice. He has represented clients for over 40 years in complex tort, commercial, and product liability litigation. Rick currently serves as defense liaison counsel for dozens of generic pharmaceutical defendants in the Zantac multidistrict litigation (MDL) and as lead defense counsel for one of the generic manufacturers in the personal injury product liability and medical monitoring and consumer class action MDL No. 2924 related to over-the-counter medicine ranitidine (Zantac) and alleged exposure to N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). This MDL involves over 160,000 claimants and cases and is considered one of the most complex MDL proceedings in history.
Kamil Ismail practices in the areas of insurance coverage, product liability, and commercial and business tort litigation. He has over 25 years of experience in insurance law and has represented insurers and policyholders in a variety of coverage disputes. In his product liability practice, Kamil has represented leading pharmaceutical and medical device companies. In his commercial litigation practice, he has litigated business disputes on behalf of large corporations.
Nikki Nesbitt is the firm’s Managing Partner. She represents healthcare clients in medical malpractice defense litigation and in civil rights disputes brought by employees, patients, guests, or other claimants. Her additional experience in the employer liability context provides her with insight to counsel employers on preventing claims and crafting meaningful guidelines, policies, and agreements, in addition to defending matters that have already proceeded to litigation or administrative review.
Marianne DePaulo Plant is Chair of the firm’s Medical Malpractice Practice Group. She defends institutional healthcare providers against claims of medical negligence, and her clients include one of the largest health systems in Maryland. She has prevailed in numerous dispositive motions, has taken and defended hundreds of depositions, and has repeatedly tried medical malpractice cases to defense verdicts.
Derek Stikeleather chairs the firm’s Appellate Practice Group. He is currently leading the multi-firm appellate team challenging a $261 million verdict against a Florida children’s hospital. It is the second time that Derek has challenged 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 — the largest birth-injury award in U.S. history — and order JNOV for the defendant hospital. Derek has led the appellate teams that vacated each of the three largest appeals of birth-injury verdicts in Maryland history, including, most recently, a $34 million verdict against a hospital client.
Sean Gugerty is Co-Chair of the firm’s Product Liability practice and a member of the Appellate Practice Group. He defends clients in complex product liability and commercial litigation, including representation of generic manufacturers in the In Re: Zantac multidistrict litigation. Sean has successfully moved to dismiss ranitidine cases and defended those victories on appeal in multiple states, including California and Illinois. He is currently the lead appellate counsel for the generic manufacturers in the In Re: Zantac appeal before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which was argued in October 2025.
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We provide law firm and lawyer rankings based on extensive interviews with litigators, dispute resolution specialists, and their clients, as well as analysis of the market’s most important cases and firm developments.
