Kennedys has bolstered its insurance offering in Australia with the hire of a team from rival Clyde & Co in Sydney. 

The move sees the 12-strong team reunite with Clydes’ former Australia managing partner, Lucinda Lyons, who joined Kennedys’ Sydney office earlier this month. The team includes special counsel Con Kakakios, who specialises in personal injury work, alongside two senior associates, four associates, a trainee and a quartet of support staff. 

James Melvin, managing partner of Kennedys’ Sydney office, commented: “We are delighted that Lucinda and her team have joined Kennedys. They will enhance our growing and well respected team of legal experts, offering the region’s best legal counsel and sector insights.” 

For her part Lyons joined Kennedys after nearly eight years at Clydes, where she also led the Australia insurance practice. She works with Australian and London insurers and reinsurers, as well as brokers, insureds and corporations and focuses on personal injury, third party property and product liability work. She also advises on historical abuse matters on behalf of organisations and insurance companies.

“I’m so pleased to have the team join me at Kennedys,” Lyons said. “Collectively, I know we will bring so much to the firm, and we are looking forward to working with Kennedys’ colleagues and clients around the firm’s global network.”

Kennedys has been operating in Australia since 2006 and has four offices across the country in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane, where the firm opened an office last year after relocating insurance partner Stephanie Cook. The new arrivals from Clydes bring the firm’s partner headcount in Australia to 22 and the number of fee earners to more than 80. 

Kennedys’ revenue topped £300m for the first time in the 2023 financial year, when turnover grew 11% to hit £313m. The firm did not disclose profits per equity partner (PEP). 

For its part Clydes’ revenue grew by an eye-cartching 20% in FY23 to £788.6m off the back of its merger with UK law firm BLM, which went live in July last year. Profit at the firm increased by 6% to £169.2m, while PEP remained at £708k.