Survey Results - Trainee feedback on Kennedys

The lowdown - Trainees (in their own words) on Kennedys

Why did you choose this firm over any others? ‘It’s rated very highly in multiple practice areas, whilst also maintaining a down-to-earth culture’, ‘I have a particular interest in both insurance law and commercial law, with a focus on product liability and life sciences. In both sectors, Kennedys is world-leading’, ‘I was attracted to the insurance law aspect, and being able to have correspondence with both the insured and insurer on cases’, ‘it was a rare firm to offer a training contract with only a one-year wait’, ‘I remember leaving my interview and being amazed by how relaxed and approachable the process was’

Best thing about the firm? ‘The workplace environment and that everyone is so friendly and reliable’, ‘the people: everyone is willing to support you’, ‘the people, variety of work and approachability of all levels of staff’, ‘the attitude of superiors to bringing trainees in on matters’, ‘the approachability and client exposure in certain teams are incredible to build personal brand’, ‘approachability – no question is a silly one’, ‘the complex work’, ‘the ability to work with different groups within the firm, as sometimes there is a lot of crossover’, ‘the good people’

Worst thing about the firm? ‘Seat allocation is done more based on business needs than preferences (i.e. you might end up in a seat in which you have no interest)’, ‘the salary in the Manchester office is quite low. I also think that the secondment opportunities aren’t great outside of the London office’, ‘it would be nice to see more social events’, ‘salary transparency’, ‘the hours-to- remuneration ratio could be improved’, ‘the work/life balance depends on which team you’re in’, ‘the social life isn’t the best’

Best moment? ‘Having my instructions to counsel used as they were and then attending the hearing which the instructions were for’, ‘my first win on a claim – the team we so supportive and shared in my celebrations’, ‘meeting a variety of different people across the firm and doing a secondment’, ‘being directly thanked by a client’

Worst moment? ‘Working long hours for a whole week to meet immediate and urgent deadlines’, ‘very limited work in one seat as I had extended periods of time with hardly anything to do, despite constantly asking for work. This was demoralising as I wanted to learn as much as possible’, ‘I failed the first sitting of SQE1. But the firm and my colleagues have been so supportive’, ‘the seat rotation process was a bit disorganised and caused some difficulty’

The Legal 500 Future Lawyers verdict on Kennedys

‘Leading insurance firm’ Kennedys has a ‘great reputation in the market’ and is packed full of ‘lawyers who are highly regarded in their field’. Trainees at the international firm get ‘loads of responsibility from the beginning’, undertake ‘tasks such as drafting, witness interviews and client reports’ and are ‘involved in big cases’. All this whilst frequently working alongside ‘international offices’ on behalf of ‘multinational organisations’. Kennedys’ partners are friendly and approachable; in fact, recruits feel they can ‘easily speak to colleagues at all levels’ who will ‘always make time for us’. Many trainees had a strong feeling that they ‘aligned with the Kennedys values’ after having ‘discussions with employees during the interview and assessment days’. Trainees are ‘not expected to work late all the time’, though some respondents said that this depends on the department. Recruits from a variety of offices grumbled about the salary. There is also a feeling that the firm is quite ‘London-centric’, especially when it comes to client secondment opportunities. But one thing Kennedys does well is that it makes a concerted effort to ‘get trainees involved in all opportunities’, which ‘allows us to really assess whether we would want to qualify into a particular seat’ and ‘gives us the opportunity to learn at a much quicker rate’. For a firm which ‘excels in insurance law’, where the work is ‘interesting’, the culture ‘collaborative’ and trainees are treated like an integral part of the team from day one, apply to Kennedys.

About the firm

The firm: Kennedys is a global law firm with expertise in dispute resolution and advisory services. With over 2,750 people worldwide across 45 offices in the UK, Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific and America we have some of the most respected legal minds in their field.

Our lawyers handle both contentious and non-contentious matters, and provide a range of specialist legal services for many industry sectors but we have particular expertise in litigation and dispute resolution, especially in defending insurance and liability claims.

We’re a fresh-thinking firm, and we’re not afraid to bring challenging new perspectives to the table way beyond the traditional realm of legal services. We empower our clients with a diverse range of ideas, tools and technology to make their lives easier, as well as delivering exceptional results, every time.

The clients: Aer Lingus; Brit; Chubb; Etihad Airways; Great Western Rail; Hilton Hotels; JD Wetherspoon; Ryanair; Travelers; TUI group.

The deals: Assisting Stagecoach South Western Trains with the employment elements of its move out of the South West Trains Rail franchise, including TUPE work and redundancy issues; acting for Protector Insurance, the property and liability insurer of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and the RBKC Tenants Management Organisation (TMO), in relation to the Grenfell Tower tragedy; acted for AXA Insurance against Ted Baker in claims arising out of the theft of stock by an employee from its warehouse over a period of years; acting for British Airways and AIG on claims arising from the fire and evacuation of flight BA 2276 at Las Vegas-McCarran International Airport in 2015; represented Esure in a claim by an insurance customer for losses in connection with a motorcycle accident and consequent life-changing spinal cord injuries.

Senior partner: Nick Thomas

Other offices: Auckland, Austin, Bangkok, Basking Ridge, Belfast, Bermuda, Birmingham, Bogotá, Bristol, Brisbane, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Chicago, Copenhagen, Delaware, Dubai, Dublin, Edinburgh, Fort Lauderdale, Glasgow, Hamilton, Hong Kong, Houston, Israel, Kerala, Leeds, Lima, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Manchester, Melbourne, Mexico City, Miami, Mumbai, Muscat, Moscow, Newcastle, New Delhi, New York, Oman, Paris, Perth, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Santiago, São Paulo, Sheffield, Singapore, Sydney, Taunton, Tel Aviv, Wilmington.

Who we are: Kennedys is a global law firm with expertise in litigation and dispute resolution, particularly in the insurance and liability industries. With over 2,750 people worldwide across 45 offices in the UK and Europe, the US, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Latin America, we have some of the most respected legal minds in their fields. We’re here to make a difference for our clients, and each other, every day. We empower our people to deliver the very best work and reach their full potential.

What we do: Kennedys’ lawyers handle both contentious and non-contentious matters, and provide a range of specialist legal services for many industry sectors, including: insurance and reinsurance, aviation, banking and finance, construction, healthcare, life sciences, public sector, rail, real estate, retail, shipping and international trade, sport and leisure, transport and logistics, and travel and tourism. Kennedys also has particular expertise in litigation and dispute resolution, especially in defending insurance and liability claims.

What we’re looking for: Kennedys aims to recruit the best trainee talent and encourage diversity, and an environment built upon different skills and backgrounds, to represent our global firm. Kennedys has a vibrant and supportive working environment and is looking for sociable and enthusiastic team players with commercial awareness.

What you’ll do: Kennedys has both a two-year training contract and a 30-month SQE programme, which allows trainees to develop relevant experience and skills that set them up in their careers as an excellent solicitor.

During the training contract, trainees will complete four six-month seats across Kennedys’ core practice areas of insurance and reinsurance, liability, healthcare and commercial. Kennedys also offers exciting client and international secondment opportunities. In addition, trainees will be given the opportunity to attend in-house and external seminars, while having access to a large array of online training through Kennedys’ internal learning management system.

Kennedys’ SQE programme is an innovative training programme for graduates. The programme will prepare trainees for the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) that came into effect from Autumn 2021.

The 30-month training programme takes the form of a graduate solicitor apprenticeship that allows trainees to start working and earning at Kennedys immediately after university while gaining qualifying legal work experience in one of their core practice areas before sitting the SQE1 and SQE2 exams to qualify as a solicitor. The programme will involve working at Kennedys four days a week and having one day off a week to study at BBP. In addition to a dedicated supervisor at Kennedys, trainees will have a tutor and skills coach at BPP, to ensure that they have all the support at work and with their studies.

Perks: Pension scheme, private medical insurance, life insurance, income protection, employee assistance programme (EAP), corporate GP, fitness subsidy, nursery scheme, season ticket loan, eye care vouchers, Cycle to Work Scheme, Headspace, Peppy, 25 days’ holiday (increasing to 27 after five years), wellbeing day.

Sponsorship

Before starting a training contract, we ask all of our future trainees to undertake the LLM SQE1&2 course at BPP, before sitting the SQE exams and we will fund course fees and provide a maintenance grant during the study period. Non-law graduates will be required to complete a law conversion course and SQE preparation course prior to undertaking the SQE and Kennedys will offer a reimbursement for this.

If successful candidates have already completed the LPC/SQE Kennedys will offer reimbursements.

Seat options

London – insurance division (property, energy and construction; casualty coverage; financial and political risks; professional liability; aviation; marine and cyber; data risk); UK liability defence division (employers liability and public liability; serious and catastrophic injury); commercial division (commercial disputes; real estate and construction; employment; products law and life sciences; transactions and advisory); business services (risk and compliance).

Manchester – insurance division (property; energy and construction; professional liability; cyber and data risk); UK liability defence division (crime and regulatory); commercial (commercial disputes; employment).

These seat options are subject to change.

Tips from the recruiter

  1. Be proactive with your research (investigate the firm and our core practice areas – is there anything that interests you?).
  2. Answer authentically and honesty (only select answers or include information that truly reflects how you would genuinely respond).
  3. Always make sure you link your work experience with what you have learnt and how it is relevant to a career in law.

Diversity and inclusion

Please visit https://kennedyslaw.com/en/who-we-are/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/.

Percentage of female associates: 61%

Percentage of female partners: 35%

Percentage of BAME associates: 18%

Percentage of BAME partners: 6%