Four new hires for Kennedys’ Birmingham office

Kennedys has grown its Birmingham office with the appointment of two new partners, a solicitor and legal executive.

Partners Mark Walsh and Robert Wallace, from Lyons Davidson have joined the firm along with solicitor Sandip Sidhu and legal executive Rachel Harbour.

The firm’s Birmingham office, which specialises in all lines of insurance defendant work, including employers’ liability, public liability, motor, property and professional indemnity, is its fifth largest in the UK and now has nine partners and 30 other fee-earners.

Walsh has led the high-value catastrophic injury claims team at Lyons Davidson for the past seven years. He joined the Bristol office of the firm in 1999 before moving to the Solihull office in 2002 to set up a new defendant team, becoming a partner in 2007.

Wallace has 26 years’ experience in personal injury working as a general liability specialist. He worked as both a claimant and defendant lawyer, instructed by personal and commercial lines insurers, trade unions and motor legal expense insurers. He became a partner in 2011 and has a special interest in chronic pain cases, ranging from complex regional pain syndrome to fibromyalgia.

With over eight years’ experience in the field of personal injury, Sidhu has a particular interest in complex liability issues and injuries. Her caseload includes a variety of large loss and technical matters.

Harbour, who qualified as a legal executive in 2015, has assisted Walsh on a number of catastrophic injury claims involving head and spinal injuries. Her caseload includes motor, employers’ liability and public liability litigation which exceeds £100,000 or contains technical aspects.

Kennedys’ senior partner Nick Thomas said: “We are delighted to have Mark, Robert and their team join us. Collectively they bring many years of experience which complements our presence in the high value and catastrophic injury claims practice area. It is important to us that we attract talent of their calibre and expertise into our firm as we continue to grow our presence across the UK and internationally.”

Mark Dugdale