Kennedys to grow UK public liability practice

We are to strengthen our public liability practice with the recruitment of Kathryn Oldfield as a partner.

Kathryn, an historic abuse and local authority specialist, will join our UK public liability practice from Plexus.

She will be based in our Chelmsford office and will work alongside partners Jennifer Harris, Joy Middleton, Richard Whybrew and a growing team of 80 lawyers; as well as continuing to add expertise to our market-leading historic abuse product group, headed by partner Helen Snowball.

Richard West, Head of Liability at Kennedys, commented: “I am delighted that Kathryn has chosen to join Kennedys as a partner. To welcome someone of Kathryn’s integrity, market profile and expertise to our partnership is a pleasure.

“It is clear that Kathryn cares passionately about her work and has sought a home that will support her and her practice for the long term. Kathryn’s arrival is part of our continued strategy to strengthen our capabilities both domestically and internationally.”

Our Chelmsford office specialises in all lines of insurance defendant work, including employers’ liability, public liability, motor and local authority work. It is our second largest office in the UK, with 4 partners and 84 other fee-earners. It opened in 2005.

In June, we reported record turnover of £217m for the financial year 2017/18, representing a 12% increase on the previous financial year (£193m) and is the first time our revenue has topped £200m. The growth was supported by a 7% increase in the number of fee-earners worldwide, with our total headcount exceeding 2,000 for the first time in our history.

This continued growth has led to the appointment of Suzanne Liversidge as our first ever global managing partner, which we announced within the last two weeks.

Earlier this week, we announced the arrival of four professional liability partners and two associates across our Birmingham, London and Taunton offices.