Kennedys welcomes Sedgwick team spearheaded by New York Managing Partner

We are pleased to announce that John Blancett, Sedgwick New York’s former Managing Partner, has joined as a partner and will be based in our New York office. He will be joined by two partners and three associates.

John, who headed Sedgwick’s Financial Institutions (FI) practice, is considered a top insurer advocate in the United States. His practice comprises financial institutions, fidelity, commercial crime, professional liability, directors’ and officers’ (D&O) liability, and media liability amongst other types of insurance. He works with major insurers throughout the US, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Asia.

John has represented insurers in many high-profile matters. His experience extends to the analysis of banking, financial and trading transactions involving substantial losses, as well as defending insurers in substantial exposure coverage litigation. A number of these matters involved significant and novel insurance coverage issues.

Joining John in our New York office are former Sedgwick partners, Christopher Novak, whose practice primarily focuses on complex insurance coverage disputes, and Matthew Ferguson who specialises in domestic and international coverage matters, focusing on D&O and financial institutions liability. They will be supported by associates, William Brennan, Thomas Orofino and Michael Sabino.

Nick Thomas, Senior Partner of Kennedys, says: “John and his team’s arrival is a significant move for our FI practice, and will raise our US profile quite considerably. In addition to complementing our US offering, the team will significantly strengthen our London Market capabilities, which is crucial for international FI matters.”

John Blancett says: “I have crossed paths with Chris and other impressive attorneys from Kennedys and I have tremendous respect for the team. Kennedys’ global network will provide our clients with seamless access to legal expertise across the world. We are very excited to become part of Kennedys.”

We have a significant global Financial Lines practice offering solutions both within the UK and internationally, providing specialist advice to insurers and reinsurers in all financial lines’ classes, including professional indemnity, directors’ and officers’ liability, crime, computer crime and Bankers Blanket Bond. John and his team have worked with insurers and reinsurers in industry-wide claims including mis-selling, such as pensions, payment protection insurance, sub-prime issues; and have worked on high profile cases involving Enron, WorldCom, Lehman Brothers and Madoff.

This latest development follows our merger with US insurance law firm Carroll McNulty & Kull (CMK) in June, where we added 100 attorneys, including 41 partners, and offices in New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Austin and Miami to our global network.