Summary: The latest merger of the year was announced regarding Carroll, McNulty & Kull joining forces with Kennedys starting June 1.
Law firm mergers have been on a record-breaking pace so far this year. The latest announcement creates a truly global insurance practice. U.S. insurance firm Carroll McNulty & Kull (CMK) is prepared to merge with international law firm Kennedys.
The merger set to take effect on June 1 will create a firm with over 1,000 staff. CMK brings 100 lawyers, 43 of which are partners with them to join with Kennedys 975 lawyers and 750 staff members. The firm will be located in Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. The firm will keep the CMK name because of its reputation in the United States and be known as Kennedys CMK.
CMK already has offices in Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas. With the addition of Kennedys offices, they will have 32 across the world. Kennedys has 15 offices with five opened in just the last year in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, and Chile.
Both firms focus on insurance for global and domestic insurers and multinational corporations. CMK specializes in coverage and defense work such as cyber risk, general liability, medical malpractice, professional liability, property and casualty, construction defect, surety and fidelity and reinsurance across all industries including aviation, marine, and financial.
CMK was founded in 1997 by Chris Carroll, Joseph McNulty, and Gary Kull. Carroll will join the Global Strategy Board. The other founders and managing partner Margaret Catalano will also join the firm. Senior Partner of Kennedys Nick Thomas said, “Our growth is always predicated on client need and the global nature of the insurance market means that our clients will benefit from the expertise CMK can offer in the US. Likewise, CMK’s clients will benefit greatly from access to our network of specialists, stretching from Dublin to Auckland, and many points in between.”
Thomas continued, “But this is also a meeting of minds. We know each other well, as colleagues and friends, and are confident that our cultures will integrate to the benefit of all. Clients will see immediate benefits from working with a global firm and they have been overwhelmingly positive in their support of this merger.”
Carroll added, “In just 20 years, CMK has established itself as one of the leading players in the US insurance market, but to build on this growth we now view our future strategy as one that extends internationally, and this merger supports that. We’ve worked with Kennedys for over 10 years having worked together on some of the biggest insurance cases of recent years. We know that we are joining forces with a firm with ambitions and a reputation to match our own. We are really looking forward to continued growth with like-minded people and, as importantly, with friends.”
Do you think this year will have a record number of mergers? Tell us in the comments below.
To learn more about recent mergers, read these articles:
- Lewis Roca Rothgerber Merges With California IP Law Firm
- Chadbourne to Merge with Norton Rose
- Eversheds Officially Mergers with Sutherland
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