International specialist insurance firm Kennedys has posted record revenue of £457m, a 9.1% jump on last year’s results.
The increase – which covers the financial year ending 30 April 2026 – was driven by significant regional growth, with North America and APAC income growing by 22.5% and 20.3% respectively. Together, the two regions now account for 43.7% of global revenue, while EMEA and LATAM contributed a combined 9.2%.
Meanwhile, the UK – where the firm is based – revenue growth slowed from 8.8% in FY25 to 3.6% last year, although it remains the firm’s largest region, generating £215m in revenue and representing 47% of the total.
While the overall rate of global revenue growth represented a slowdown from the double-digit increases of the previous 11 years, John Bruce, Kennedys' global senior partner, said the firm was pleased with its trajectory.
"It's very much in line with our aim not to grow for growth's sake, but to meet client demand and where it's reputation enhancing," he said.
Bruce added: "We're particularly encouraged by the pace of expansion in North America and APAC, both of which are central to our long-term strategy. We aim to build a stronger, broader and more connected firm. That means developing our insurance offering, expanding our service lines and strengthening our global footprint so that we're in the markets that matter most to our clients."
The firm aims to reach to reach $1bn (£740m) turnover by 2030, a goal Bruce said Kennedys was on track to meet.
Last year, the firm’s revenue hit £428m, up 13% on 2024’s level, while turnover has more than tripled since FY15, when it stood at £122m. Fee-earner count increased by nearly 8% to 2,046, while Kennedys' partnership grew to 359 through lateral hires and a 20-strong promotions round, its seventh year of double-digit promotions. The firm does not disclose figures for profit per equity partner.
Key laterals in FY26 included corporate crime and investigations lawyer Will White and corporate lawyer Lowri Jones, who joined in London from DLA Piper and Cripps last month, shortly after commercial dispute lawyer Samson Spanier moved over from Norton Rose Fulbright.
Bruce said Kennedys had been expanding in areas adjacent to its core insurance practice, focusing on litigation for clients other than insurers, including arbitration, and providing legal services to insurer clients other than claims, such as employment and property.
"The three partners we've hired in the UK in the past few months have all been in our corporate and commercial practice," Bruce said. "We continue to build out our commercial litigation practice more broadly and our arbitration practice, and they're going great guns. That being said, we are primarily an insurance firm and we won't stray from that."
Noting the slowdown in Kennedys UK revenue increase, Bruce acknowledged the challenge for the firm to grow in its home market due its established presence.
"Obviously, where we're currently smaller compared to the market size, it's easier to grow," Bruce said. "Though that doesn't mean we're not ambitious for the UK, we absolutely are. It would be easy to increase if we took anybody on board, but that's not the strategy; it's very deliberate growth."
Kennedys' global managing partner, Meg Catalano, added that the firm's international expansion was fueled by its UK client relationships.
"There's a global network of collaboration that drives growth, so while you may see a smaller increase in the UK, that doesn't necessarily show all the work being done from there to build our international relationships," she said.
Looking to the US, where Kennedys has expanded from one office to 12 since 2017, Catalano said the firm had built a “solid footprint” in key jurisdictions that formed “a foundation for our growth in the future”.
While not ruling out future expansion, she added the firm was focused on building its existing US network, which spans key states such as Texas, California, Washington DC, Florida and New York.
"We don't feel compelled to plant a flag in all 50 states," she said. "Our locations are driven by client need, that was the focus for our newest US offices in Los Angeles and Seattle, which we opened in 2024. We probably will open a few new offices in the next two years, but there would need to be a clear business rationale."
Key work over the past year included acting as counsel of record for insurers in the National Football League head-trauma-related coverage litigation in the US, which involves a $1.4bn settlement fund.
Meanwhile, in the UK the firm is defending Welsh Water in group claims arising from alleged river pollution, in what has been reported as the UK’s largest environmental group action. It is also representing Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation and its senior executives in the largest police investigation arising from the Grenfell Tower case. The firm said it was also "heavily involved" in claims arising from the Middle East conflict across marine, aviation, political violence and trade credit sectors.
In terms of AI, Catalano said Kennedys was undertaking several pilots globally for business services staff as well as lawyers. Last year, the firm agreed a strategic partnership with generative AI platform Spellbook to deliver a legal training programme for junior lawyers, and it is also using Harvey and Copilot.
"We're being deliberate in terms of not having too many different pilots going on at once," Catalano said. "Our focus is on getting people educated and trained, as well as analysing the use cases for AI tools so we can scale that and get the best return on investment."
The results mark Kennedys' first full financial year with Catalano and Bruce at the helm, Catalano having stepped up in late 2024 and Bruce having succeeded longtime leader Nick Thomas in January last year.
The firm refreshed its wider leadership in FY25, with Thomas now part of an ensemble including Catalano, Eric Hiller as US managing partner, Ben Aram as UK managing partner and Michael Hennessy as managing partner for Latin America and the Caribbean.
In February, the firm also announced new leaders for APAC, elevating Sydney managing partner James Melvin to regional managing partner and Nicole Wearne to Australian managing partner. The following month, it hired Milan Devani as global CIO from Baker McKenzie in London.
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