International law firm Kennedys has become the latest to open an office in Bristol, continuing the city’s growth as a major regional legal centre.
The office, the firm’s 11th in the UK and 38th across the world, will focus on professional and financial lines work along with defendant personal injury. 
Kennedys said Bristol’s strong financial services sector was among its reasons for opening in the city. It said it had a number of clients among the large insurers and reinsurers with offices in Bristol, adding that the city’s insurance industry was similar in size to that in Birmingham, where it also has a presence.
The firm will recruit an undisclosed number of staff for the office, which is in The Friary building at Temple Quay.
It will also serve as a base for lawyers in its Taunton office who wish to work more flexibly in the region.
Kennedys opened in Taunton 11 years ago and now employs more than 60 people there, including three partners and 44 fee-earners.
Kennedys’ Bristol office is a stone’s throw from the base opened at Temple Quay by Top 50 national firm Freeths in April. That office, Freeths’ 13th in the UK, was initially launched to tap into Bristol’s burgeoning real estate sector.
Last year international firm Clyde & Co opened an office on Bristol’s Victoria Street with three partners. Rival Simmons & Simmons opened a small Bristol base in 2012 – its first in the UK outside London – with 12 fee earners and five business services staff. 
Earlier this year it moved to a showpiece office for its 74 fee earners and 79 business services staff now based in Bristol.
Kennedys senior partner Nick Thomas, pictured, said: “Our growth strategy has always been driven by client demand, which has led to our rapid international expansion in recent years. But we have remained careful to ensure that our domestic offering – the core of what Kennedys has become – remains at the top of its game.
“Opening in Bristol ensures that we will continue to give our clients the best service.”
Jeremy Riley, who leads Kennedys’ UK professional liability and claims handling group, added: “Bristol is, of course, a significant business centre in its own right, but it has also become a particular hub for the insurance industry.
“Taunton has led the way in showing the demand for our services in the South West, and our new office will consolidate our position as a leading player in the region.”
Kennedys’ global network of offices spreads from Santiago and São Paulo to Singapore and Sydney.
