About Kennedys

Kennedys is a global law firm with expertise in dispute resolution and advisory services. With over 2,400 people worldwide across 44 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.

What do we have to offer?

We welcome high-performing lawyers, business services professionals, secretaries, graduates and apprentices to join our rapidly expanding global firm. Whatever your role at Kennedys, you'll be involved in exciting and stimulating work, where your input will make a difference.

Our culture and values form a big part of who we are and we take them seriously. We make a difference by being approachable, straightforward, supportive and distinctive. Our values are at the core of who we are and what make us a great firm to work with and for.

We develop careers in an innovative and collaborative global environment, with our values at the core. We believe that supporting individual growth and development puts us in the best position to attract and retain talented individuals. Regardless of role or level, everyone has access to virtual learning to help you develop your skills, wherever you are in the world. A variety of other exciting opportunities are available including secondments to clients and our global offices as well as a comprehensive benefits package (details are available upon request).

We've created a culture based on client service, professional excellence, hard work and trust. We deeply value the relationships we build with our clients and we know that they value our warm, friendly human approach. We are here to provide answers, recommendations, strategy and tactics.

Kennedys is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. We expect all employees to be aware of and comply with all relevant policies and procedures within their jurisdiction, including those relating to information security, data protection and quality management, refer any breach promptly to risk and compliance and to complete all mandatory training when required.

Training contract at Kennedys

Obtaining a training contract at Kennedys, will be the start of an exciting and successful career in a global law firm. At Kennedys, you will gain early responsibility and client contact developing you into an excellent solicitor, capable of running your own caseload once qualified.

Throughout your two year training contract, you will be supported by senior solicitors and partners to develop you into a competent, confident and commercially driven lawyer. You will be able to choose from a variety of seats in specialist areas and you may also have the opportunity to go on an international or client secondment.

Our training contracts are two years in length and you will undertake four six-month seats within specialist areas such as:

Insurance and reinsurance

Liability defence

Commercial

SQE training programme

Our SQE programme will prepare you for the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE). The SQE training programme will take the form of a graduate solicitor apprenticeship and allows you to start working and earning at Kennedys immediately after university, while gaining qualifying legal work experience in one of our teams before sitting the SQE1 and SQE2 exams to qualify as a solicitor. You will also be awarded a postgraduate certificate from BPP.

The two year six-month training 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, you will have a tutor and skills coach at BPP, to ensure that you have all the support you need at work and with your studies.

Read about a day in the life of a trainee and legal professionals here.

We are proud that Kennedys is made up of individuals who come from all over the world and bring with them their own cultures, languages, backgrounds and experiences. We embrace, value and celebrate difference because we understand that diverse perspectives and experiences help us solve the toughest challenges and make us a better law firm.

Our vision

We view diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) as a key priority. We understand that it is important to represent the diversity of our people, our clients and our communities, and to create an inclusive culture in which everyone, regardless of their background, identity or circumstance, can be themselves and thrive at work. Building a diverse and inclusive firm is essential for our future success. It will help us to attract and retain the best talent, drive innovation, and deliver the best experience for our people and clients.

In line with our core values of being approachable, straightforward, supportive and distinctive, we strive to celebrate diversity, empower our people and ensure everyone can bring their authentic selves to work.

Our commitment

We are committed to increasing the representation of women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities across the firm, in senior management positions and at partnership level. In 2020 we achieved our 30% female partnership goal and have further set a goal of 40% female partnership by 2030.

In 2020 we made a commitment to focus on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Our DE&I initiatives address goals three: good health and wellbeing, four: quality education, and ten: reduced inequalities.

In 2021 we signed up to the Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification process in the US and became one of the first law firms to pilot the Mansfield Rule 1.0 in the UK. The Mansfield Rule is a 12-month certification process which aims to boost the representation of historically underrepresented lawyers in law firm leadership.

As a firm, we are proud of what we have achieved so far but also recognise that more needs to be done and our DE&I journey is not complete. This is why we have elaborated a Global DE&I Strategy (2022-2025)  to help achieve our goals which can be found here: https://kennedyslaw.com/en/who-we-are/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/.

Before starting a training contract, we ask all of our future trainees to undertake the LLM SQE1 and 2 course and SQE exams. Non-law graduates will be required to complete a law conversion course prior to undertaking the LLM SQE1 and 2 course. We also welcome applications from candidates who have completed the LPC.

SQE sponsorship

Kennedys will fully fund your training during the SQE programme. If you have studied a non-law undergraduate degree and completed the Postgraduate Diploma in Law (PGDL) before starting the SQE training programme, Kennedys will reimburse you for your PGDL fees.

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