After spending most of 2015 launching new offices and forming international alliances, Kennedys has announced one merger and two formal alliances with three Scandinavian firms in a bid to boost its European presence.
Kennedys is taking over Danish law firm Erritzøe and forming associations with Norwegian firm Kogstad Lunde & Co and Swedish firm NorelidHolm. The partnerships all take effect from 1 January 2016.
Erritzøe, a four-partner, 12-lawyer firm in Copenhagen, will become ‘a full Kennedys office’ and will be led by senior partner Morten Erritzøe Christensen. Kennedys has worked with Erritzøe since 2007 and in 2012 the firm became a Kennedys-associated office.
Christensen said: ‘We will benefit from leading insurers finding it easier to instruct us on the highest value claims. While we expect the increase in instructions to come primarily from local insurers, we see a benefit in developing the number of international instructions that will result from being part of Kennedys’ global presence.’
The firm also announced today (9 December) its formal association with Oslo-based Kogstad Lunde & Co, which is a six-partner, ten lawyer firm which Kennedys has worked with since 1995.
Stockholm-based NorelidHolm, which was established in 2005, also becomes an associate office, bringing with it two partners and eight lawyers in total.
It’s been a busy year for Kennedys which has invested in growing its international footprint with launches in Moscow and Scotland, and forming alliances with local firms in China and Chile.
After several top 25 global firms cut back their Moscow offerings last year, Kennedys set up a Russian base in May through an exclusive arrangement with local firm and former Clyde & Co best friend CIS Advocates.
The firm has also embarked on a number of formal tie-ups this year including a formal association with Chilean insurance boutique Sateler Depolo Diemoz in April; a joint venture in Singapore with local 30-partner firm Legal Solutions in March; while in February, Kennedys made another move in Latin America with its association with Mexican firm Bufete Solís Marín. In January, it formed a co-operation agreement with Chinese law firm AnJie.
jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk