Kennedys promotes thirteen to global partnership

We are delighted to confirm the promotion of thirteen lawyers to our partnership across practice areas including commercial, employment and healthcare, as well as specialist areas of insurance and liability that include cyber, property and construction, professional liability, travel, abuse and fraud. Eight of those promoted are based in the UK, with four in the US and one in Australia. Our worldwide partner count is now 264.

In the UK, those that have been promoted are:

• Amanda Beaumont, an employment specialist in our Manchester office who handles a mix of contentious and non-contentious work. She acts for employers and insurers, with experience handling employment tribunals for insurers and their insureds, as well as advising on HR-related aspects of GDPR and data protection. Amanda also supports commercial clients on non-contentious employment-related issues such as drafting policies, HR procedures, employment contracts and settlement agreements. She also advises on restructuring and business change too.
• Louise Bedford, who works in the abuse team in our Sheffield office. Louise qualified as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives first, before becoming a solicitor. She has a focus on local authority work and handles employers’ and public liability claims. Louise also works for charities, sporting associations and blue-chip firms, as well as providing crisis management support.
• Simon Dawes, a real estate lawyer in our London office. Simon acts for a wide range of clients, both in the public and private sectors, on development, regeneration, investment, lettings and disposal work. He has extensive experience of working with NHS trusts, healthcare bodies, public sector and higher education institutions. Simon recently advised the Borough Council of Bolton on the site acquisition and disposal aspects of their £1.3bn re-generation of Bolton City Centre.
• Oliver Dent, who qualified here at Kennedys. Based in our Manchester office, he has been instrumental in the development of our UK and global cyber offering and regularly spends time in offices across our network. His focus is on advising both insurers and corporate entities on data breach response, privacy issues, data subject litigation and cyber related claims and policy coverage.
• Stephen Foster, who works in our London office advising on motor, public liability and employers’ liability claims resulting in catastrophic and serious injury. He has a particular specialism in the defence of amputation claims and is a member of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics, as well as representing insurer signatories to our Serious Injury Guide.
• Danny Steel, who sits within our international arbitration and commercial litigation team in London. He has extensive experience in all forms of commercial dispute resolution arising in a wide range of industries and sectors, often with an international or cross-border dimension. He also represents insurers in relation to the defence of high-value property claims and recoveries. Danny assisted in the formation of our Israel Desk and our formal association with Israeli law firm Zelichov, Ben-Dan and Co.
• Gareth Thomas, who works in the London travel team, representing tour operators, cruise liners, charities insurers and other travel companies in a variety of claims that are often multi-jurisdictional and involve cross-border issues. He has advised travel companies in respect of crisis response to a variety of situations including natural disaster, war, civil unrest and illness outbreak.
• Katherine Totty, a Manchester-based specialist in investigating and defending a broad spectrum of suspected fraudulent claims on behalf of insurers, local authorities and self-insured companies. Katherine also handles all manner of insurance claims, predominantly motor, casualty, travel sickness, property and first-party matters. Among her highlights she successfully defended a fraud ring of 30 linked road traffic accident claims, defeating all the claims and securing the client savings of £1.3m.

In the US those promoted are:

• Teresa Cinnamond, a general liability defence lawyer in our New Jersey office, is admitted in New Jersey, New York and the US Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. She represents property owners, property and construction managers, general contractors and subcontractors, handling general liability defence and construction defect cases for global organisations. Teresa recently completed a secondment for an international insurer where she evaluated problematic general liability claims and directed defence counsel throughout the United States.
• Josh Levy, an insurance coverage and litigation lawyer working out of our Miami office. Admitted in Florida and the US District Court for the Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, his practice focuses on representing insurers on a variety of coverage matters under commercial liability and property policies; including a first-party property coverage litigation arising from Florida windstorm claims. Acting for a number of global insurers, Josh also advises clients on best-practices for claims handling under Florida law and is often asked by clients to handle time-limit demands and negotiate settlements of claims with multi-million dollar extra-contractual exposure.
• Alexa Schmid, who works in our New Jersey office and focuses her practice on insurance coverage matters - of both litigated and non-litigated nature. Acting for a range of major insurers, Alexa’s practice focuses on complex matters in the areas of environmental, professional liability and construction damage/injury litigation. Admitted in New Jersey, New York and the US Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, she has also handled numerous state and federal employment discrimination actions on the employer side.
• Elizabeth Streelman, a litigator based in our New York office who handles a variety of claims that arise from property damage, premises liability, motor, products liability, construction defect and employers’ liability/discrimination. Admitted in New York, Elizabeth acts for a number of major international insurers. She also has experience handling legal malpractice and general negligence claims, insurance coverage matters, and drafting pleadings, discovery, motions and mediation submissions.

And, in Australia:

• Anjali Woodford, who works in our Melbourne office representing medical indemnity insurers, medical practitioners, health professionals and public and private hospitals in complex civil law injury claims, disciplinary investigations, and coronial investigations and inquests. She is part of one of the largest healthcare legal teams in Melbourne.

Nick Thomas, Senior Partner of Kennedys, says: “A key element of the Kennedys culture is ensuring that people have clear routes to progress their careers, and so I am very pleased to welcome as my partners those who have proven that they have the energy, professionalism and skill to take the step up.

“Of course, we also grow via recruitment and acquisition, but we make it a priority to ensure that everyone knows that they are valued and their hard work will be rewarded and this year’s promotions showcase how we value those who show commitment to clients and to improving the services we provide.

“Despite the Covid-19 crisis, we believe it is important to show confidence in our people and in the future for Kennedys that they will help shape.”

Already this year we have recruited partners in the UK, Ireland, Peru and Singapore, joined the government’s Northern Powerhouse Partner Programme, confirmed a new leadership team in Madrid and launched Kennedys IQ, a separate technology driven company.

In the last 12 months we have made 20 lateral hires, strengthening our global offering from our offices in Australia, Chile, Ireland, Peru, Portugal, Singapore, UAE, the US and the UK. The most recent of these laterals was the appointment of healthcare partner, Tom Armstrong, on 1 May, who will head up a new healthcare team based in our firm’s Sheffield office. He will be working closely with our healthcare lawyers in Birmingham, Cambridge and London.