Kennedys has hired partner Tom Armstrong to lead a new healthcare team based in the firm’s Sheffield office.
Armstrong, who joins from Browne Jacobson, will lead a team in Sheffield able to defend clinical negligence claims against GPs, NHS trusts and private healthcare providers. He will work closely with Kennedys’s healthcare lawyers in Birmingham, Cambridge and London.
The move marks a return to Kennedys for Armstrong, who joined the firm in 2002 and was appointed a partner in 2007 before leaving for Browne Jacobson in 2014.
He has a strong reputation in clinical negligence defendant work and his appointment will significantly strengthen the UK healthcare practice at Kennedys.
The new Sheffield practice follows the growth of the Birmingham healthcare offering that opened in 2016 and has since grown to a team of 20 lawyers.
Christopher Malla, head of healthcare at Kennedys, said: “We are seeing demand from clients for a truly national offering managing healthcare claims. Tom has a leading reputation in the field and his appointment, coupled with the creation of a new healthcare team based in Sheffield, is an important strategic step in the growth of our national healthcare capability, bringing in expertise from our offices in Birmingham, Cambridge and London.”
Armstrong added: “I spent the majority of my career at Kennedys, so I am looking forward to coming back to the firm and to working with colleagues who I already know well but also working with new colleagues, as the firm has expanded and grown a great deal over the last few years. The firm has an excellent reputation in the healthcare field and this is an exciting opportunity to set up and grow the Sheffield practice and the firm’s national healthcare offering.”
Kennedys opened its Sheffield office in 2010 with the appointment of a 60-strong team from Halliwells. Armstrong’s appointment takes that figure to 137, with the office now comprising nine partners and 102 other fee earners.
Sheffield is also the base of managing partner Suzanne Liversidge, who was appointed to the role last year.
Partner Helen Snowball, who leads the Kennedys Sheffield office, commented: “We are thrilled to welcome Tom to the Sheffield office and add healthcare capabilities to our office’s other focus areas of insurance, commercial and real estate work. The office itself has more than doubled in size since it opened in 2010 and I look forward to continued growth through our exciting new healthcare practice in Sheffield.”
