Kennedys expands London team with catastrophic injury trio

Kennedys is growing its London team with the hire of three partners from the BLM catastrophic injury team, Antony French, Anthony Rawlins and Deirdre Burgess. They will also be joined by six associates and a litigation assistant from BLM.

Antony French, who was head of BLM’s catastrophic injury team in London joined the firm in 2015 having previously worked at Greenwoods. He handles complex, large and catastrophic injury claims arising out of road traffic accidents and casualty claims. Antony has also worked to proactively develop collaborative handling practices alongside proactive rehabilitation.

Deirdre Burgess joined BLM from DWF and was at Greenwoods prior to that. She has over 20 years experience working on complex injury claims with particular expertise in fatalities, serious orthopaedic injuries, chronic pain cases, brain injuries as well as suspected exaggerated and fraudulent claims.

Anthony Rawlins joined from BLM. Anthony defends complex motor, employer’s liability and public claims. He has a particular interest in defending brain injury, spinal, amputation and chronic pain claims.

Nick Thomas, senior partner at Kennedys, says: “These latest hires demonstrate Kennedys’ commitment to having the best expertise in the right places. We are always looking ahead to see where we can be best supporting our clients and ensuring their needs are met.
“I welcome the whole team to both the London office and the global Kennedys family and look forward to the expertise they bring with them.”

Richard West, Partner and Head of Liability, says: “We’re excited to be further enhancing Kennedys excellent reputation for defending catastrophic injury cases with the hire of Antony, Deirdre, Anthony and their team. Combining their, and our innovative approaches, experience and reputation in the market will demonstrate our continued commitment to our clients for managing their most serious and complex claims. Such cases require skilled, experienced and calm litigators. It’s a pleasure to welcome three more such partners into Kennedys.”

Antony French, partner at Kennedys, says: “I am excited to be joining an international business which is focused on capitalising on its ability to collaborate across borders. Kennedys presence and forward-thinking attitude along with the experience we bring means that we can create the “go to” law firm in London for large and catastrophic injury claims for the next 20 years and beyond.”

Mark Burton, Head of Catastrophic Injury, says: “I have known and respected Antony, Deirdre and Anthony for a while and am delighted that they are joining us. Their arrival further strengthens our top-tier London team at a time when we are launching the next generation of our modernising solutions for complex claims. The support from clients for this project has been fantastic.”

These are the latest in a string of hires Kennedys has made over the last 12 months which included a 36-strong insurance team hire from Langleys in January as well as regulatory partner Nathan Buckley who recently joined the Manchester office.