Kennedys hires international products law specialist to London office

Kennedys has appointed partner Sarah-Jane Dobson to its growing international products law practice.

Sarah-Jane, who joins from Cooley LLP and will be based in Kennedy’s London office, specialises in litigation and regulatory matters relating to product safety, product compliance and product liability.

She has worked for both DLA Piper and Hogan Lovells, in the UK, Germany, Australia and the US, building up a practice focused on multi-jurisdictional matters for corporate clients across a range of sectors including consumer goods, cosmetics, chemicals, food, life sciences, industrial and automotive.

She advises on product launches, regulatory challenges and enforcement, regulatory compliance and product recalls as well as product law policy, particularly in respect of Brexit, legislative changes and future policy focus.

Her product liability and litigation work includes managing large portfolios of international product liability claims, advising companies subject to criminal investigations relating to product safety, advising on inquests, public inquiries, judicial reviews and anti-competitive practices.

Trevor Davies, partner and head of product liability and life sciences says: “Kennedys has a market leading product liability, recall and mass tort litigation practice across Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and the Middle East. Sarah-Jane’s expertise will help us to further build on our international product law capability and strengthen the full-service offering to our clients.

Nick Thomas, senior partner at Kennedys, says: “This latest hire is part of our continued strategy of recruiting in key areas that will benefit our clients. Sarah-Jane’s background in international, multi-jurisdictional product law matters builds on our ability to offer advice to our global client base across every element of the product lifecycle.”

Sarah-Jane says: “This is an exciting opportunity for me to join a firm with a strong international reach and an established reputation in products law. The depth of expertise available at Kennedys, in products law and relevant complementary legal areas, will be attractive to my clients and I am looking forward to working with the team to help grow the international products law practice, its regulatory capability and client base.”

Sarah Jane’s appointment follows the recent appointment of non-contentious insurance partner Tobin Ashby, who joined the firm’s London office from Pinsent Masons. It is the latest development in Kennedys’ growth agenda which this year has seen the firm report a record turnover of £238m, the opening of its first US West Coast office, in San Francisco, the opening of a new office in Israel last year and the recent acquisition of a 36 strong insurance team and opening of a new office in Leeds.