American merger sees insurance law firm continue international growth

Nick Thomas, senior partner of Kennedys, with Chris Carroll from CMK
Nick Thomas, senior partner of Kennedys, with Chris Carroll from CMK

The insurance law firm Kennedys has merged with American firm Carroll, McNulty & Kull (CMK) as it continues its international growth.

Kennedys employs nearly 1,000 lawyers across 27 offices worldwide, with CMK adding around 100 to the enlarged firm which comes into existence on June 1.

It has around 50 lawyers based at its Birmingham office in Newhall Street.

Kennedys has opened in Brazil, Peru, Chile, Colombia and Mexico in the last 12 months and has entered a formal arrangement with Italian firm Studio Legale Rinaldi Associati.

Nick Thomas, senior partner of Kennedys, described the merger as “a meeting of minds”.

He said: “Our growth is always predicated on client need and the global nature of the insurance market means that our clients will benefit from the expertise CMK can offer in the US.

“Likewise, CMK’s clients will benefit greatly from access to our network of specialists, stretching from Dublin to Auckland, and many points in between.

The merged firm will retain the CMK name in the US, where the American firm has five offices along with Kennedys’ Miami base, and will be known as Kennedys CMK.

Chris Carroll, one of the founders of CMK in 1997, will join Kennedys’ Global Strategy Board.

He said: “We’ve worked with Kennedys for over 10 years having worked together on some of the biggest insurance cases of recent years. We know that we are joining forces with a firm with ambitions and a reputation to match our own.”

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