Kennedys has bolstered its West Coast offering with the launch of new offices in Seattle and Los Angeles, as the specialist UK-based insurance firm continues its rapid expansion in the US. 

The Los Angeles office will initially house partner Shain Wasser, who was previously based in Kennedys’ San Francisco office, alongside special counsel Zina Yu and two associates. Wasser joined Kennedys in 2021 from San Francisco boutique Severson & Werson and concentrates her practice on civil litigation in federal and state court. She also handles personal injury matters involving catastrophic injuries, emotional injuries, brain damage and wrongful death.

Meantime the Seattle office will open with five lawyers including partner Terri Sutton, who joined Kennedys a year ago from Cozen O’Connor, alongside special counsel Sally Clements and three associates. Sutton has experience advising clients on insurance coverage issues related to claims under general liability, professional liability, errors and omissions, and excess/umbrella policies. 

The launches will bring Kennedys’ US office count to 12. The firm kickstarted its US growth push in 2017 through a merger with 100-lawyer insurance firm Carroll McNulty and Kull, a move that handed it five offices across the US. Since 2020 it has also hired partners from national and local rivals to open in San Francisco, Houston and Wilmington, Delaware as well as Fort Lauderdale at the start of this year, adding to its original US base in Miami. 

Kennedys’ US regional managing partner Meg Catalano said: “Kennedys offices in North America have seen strong growth over the last three years, with a 62% increase in headcount – we now have 215 attorneys servicing our clients across the US.

“The opening of these new offices expands our physical presence on the West Coast, allowing us to service increasing client demand across the region.”

Kennedys grew revenue 17% in FY23/24 to a record high of £384m. North America, which now makes up almost half of the firm’s international revenue, saw the most significant growth by region, with revenue up 22% to £94m. During the past financial year the firm added eight partners across the States, including construction and shipping industry specialist Jay Hamad, who joined in New York at the head of a team of seven lawyers from Philadelphia litigation firm Marshall Dennehey. 

Kennedys has also been busily expanding elsewhere, adding large teams in Australia from insurance rival Clyde & Co over the past year and hitting the firm for a 12-lawyer group in Madrid in June. 

Last summer the firm also hired nine liability lawyers across the UK from defunct defendant insurance firm Plexus Law, including in Newcastle, where the firm opened last May after hiring a specialist liability team from DAC Beachcroft.

Going the other way, the firm closed its office in Bangkok in late 2022 following a review into its Thailand business, leaving it with two Southeast Asia offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.