Kennedys Sees Another Strong Year

The firm recorded a 7% increase in headcount worldwide during the financial year, boosting its total employment to 2,150. In the last 12 months, Kennedys made 12 lateral hires, adding staff in Australia, Chile, Ireland, Peru, Portugal, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the US and the UK.

The company also made significant investments in innovation initiatives with the launch of Kennedys IQ, a separate, tech-driven company billed as “Kennedys, but without the lawyers.” The firm also partnered with University College London to develop an emerging-risk analytical tool for insurers, after securing funding from the Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnership.

During fiscal 2019/20, the firm also appointed Suzanne Liversidge as its first global managing partner. Liversidge is also the first woman to hold such a role at a UK top-30 law firm. Kennedys also announced a new leadership team in Spain.

The year in numbers:

• UK turnover was £139 million, up 9.7%
• The number of fee-earners globally was up 10%
• Lockup was 128 days globally

Turnover by region:

• UK: £139 million
• Europe: £13.7 million
• APAC: £13.7 million
• APAC: £38.5 million
• North America and Bermuda: £40.4 million
• Latin America: £6.6 million

“These are impressive results, the obvious difficulties of the last two months notwithstanding,” said Nick Thomas, senior partner at Kennedys. “We have continued to grow in all our key markets. As we embark on the next financial year, we do so with a careful eye on the continuing impact of COVID-19 upon our clients, but with cautious optimism. We opened our new San Francisco office last week and we expect to welcome more joiners to that office and to announce further expansions within our network this year.”