We are delighted to announce the appointment of a further 20 partners in our annual round of promotions, effective from 1 May, taking the total to 316 worldwide.

The new cohort is made up of nine men and 11 women and spans our global network of offices.

Nick Thomas, senior partner, said: "It brings me great pleasure every year to see our up and coming lawyers' hard work recognised with promotion to partnership.

"The firm would not be where it is without the talent and tenacity of all of our lawyers, in seeking the very best outcomes for our clients and I look forward to many more equally well deserved promotions in the years to come."

We have continued to grow over the past 12 months, adding new offices in Brisbane and Houston to our international network and welcoming a total of 19 lateral hires.

We also completed our biggest office move yet – part of the 'WorkWise' global transformation programme – with more than 600 people relocating to a new London office inside the city's iconic Walkie-Talkie building

Further information about our new partners is included below:

Ben Appleton advises on motor, public liability, employers' liability claims and sports related injury resulting in catastrophic and serious injury. He manages cases of the utmost severity and also has a keen interest in mild traumatic brain injury, functional neurological disorder and chronic pain cases. Ben has a further specialism in the defence of international claims with overseas quantum issues. Ben is based in London.

Louise Houliston has over 15 years' experience defending and pursuing wide-ranging personal injury cases, including complex employers' liability, motor, public liability, property damage, sensitive and complex abuse claims, regulatory/HSE cases and fatal accident inquiries. She heads up the Fraud team in Scotland. She advises insurer and self-insured clients and has an extensive understanding of the insurance market and potential reputational issues, as well as legal issues for insureds across many different sectors, for example motor, construction and transportation. Louise is based in Edinburgh.

Felicity Ingram specialises in property, energy, construction and engineering insurance matters, acting for insurers and reinsurers both in the UK (including both the Lloyd's and London Market) and internationally. She provides advice on policy interpretation, subrogation and dispute resolution. Her specialisation has seen her act on a variety of different major losses both domestically and internationally. Felicity is based in London.

Arran Roberts specialises in cyber liability and data risk and is a part of Kennedys' breach response team, where she deals with incidents including ransomware and business email compromises. Arran routinely advises insurers and corporate entities across a variety of sectors on all aspects of incident response, including regulatory investigations, data subject obligations and resulting data subject litigation. She is often involved in multi-jurisdictional breaches in conjunction with Kennedys' worldwide offices. Arran also advises clients from a wide range of industries in relation to data privacy and the application of the legislative and regulatory framework to their operations. Arran is based in Manchester.

Sandip Sidhu leads the subrogated motor recoveries team at Kennedys acting for a range of clients across the firm, and works closely with Kennedys IQ in supporting our clients with innovation. Sandip also specialises in defending a broad range of motor and personal injury claims with a particular focus on the more complex injuries including severe psychiatric injuries, orthopaedic injuries and chronic pain. Her experience in claimant and defendant litigation enables Sandip to support our clients in setting successful strategies and providing valuable insight in her practice area. Sandip is based in Birmingham.

Nathalie Smyth acts for insurers and manufacturers in a wide range of product liability disputes, with a specific focus on mass tort actions and group litigation orders in the life sciences and consumer sectors. She has considerable experience defending high profile claims against manufacturers of medical devices in the UK, as well as monitoring and assisting local counsel in relation to product claims arising in various EMEA jurisdictions. Nathalie regularly delivers presentations and training sessions to clients and key industry contacts in the product liability and life sciences sectors, and produces and contributes to publications on current market issues and regulatory changes. Nathalie is based in London.

Catherine Lyons specialises in advising insurer clients in respect of coverage and monitoring of claims to financial lines policies and the defence of professional liability claims in the financial and construction sector. She has particular experience in advising on policy coverage in respect of claims to directors' and officers' liability and financial institutions policies. She also advises on coverage matters in respect of property and construction policies, as well as subrogated recoveries. Catherine is based in Dublin.

Tom Morrison specialises in insurance and reinsurance law, with a specific focus on property, energy and construction risks. His experience includes international arbitrations under the AIAC, HKIAC and SIAC rules. He regularly provides policy coverage advice in respect of a range of operational power risks, CAR/EAR and related DSU/ALOP, and single project professional indemnity matters. Tom is based in Singapore.

Emily Unger has extensive experience in the areas of common law worker claims, statutory recoveries, public liability and property damage claims. She represents leading Australian and international insurers and acts on behalf of cleaning companies, schools, hospitals, manufacturers, host employers and occupiers. Emily is based in Melbourne.

Lorena Avila works for major insurers and reinsurers on large and complex claims in Venezuela and the rest of Latin America. Her experience is also focused on regulatory and insurance transactional matters and providing legal assistance to international reinsurers and intermediaries to comply with the regulatory framework for insurance activity in Latin America. Lorena is also a member of our Caribbean practice team. In addition, Lorena focuses on liability, including medical malpractice claims, and property damage. Lorena is based in the Miami Regional Hub for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Catalina Botero focuses on complex insurance coverage matters, in all phases of claim and dispute resolution for a variety of first and third party coverage and claims handling issues. She represents insurers and reinsurers in matters involving directors and officers, crime, professional liability, construction, property damage, and life claims. Catalina is based in Bogota.

Kodiak Semsch Gutierrez has nearly two decades' experience participating before Peru´s main jurisdictional authorities in judicial and arbitration disputes regarding civil, commercial and constitutional matters, insurance law, administrative law, as well as dispute resolution through alternative methods such as negotiation, mediation and conciliation. Kodiak has gathered the necessary experience to provide his clients with preventive counsel on potentially litigious matters. Kodiak is based in Lima.

Javier Vijil specialises in cyber insurance and is actively developing the firm's cyber insurance practice in Latin America and the Caribbean, specifically its cyber incident response practice, and serves as a hub for global claims that affect the Latin American and Caribbean region. In addition to serving on the breach response teams for a number of carriers, Javier has also worked on cyber wordings specifically for Latin America and provided coverage opinions on cyber claims in the region. Javier is also specialised in financial lines with a particular emphasis on directors' and officers' (D&O) insurance. Javier is based in Miami.

Adam Kenny has significant experience representing individuals and entities, private and public, in the defense of tort actions, including automobile negligence, premises liability, Title 59, and civil rights, in the Superior Court of New Jersey and in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. He also has significant experience representing insurers in the defense of first-party actions, including claims for uninsured and underinsured motorist benefits. Adam is based in Basking Ridge.

Aaron Konstam routinely represents insurance carriers in litigated matters, and counsels carriers in high exposure and complex claims under various types of first and third party policies, including commercial property, general liability, automobile, inland marine, event cancellation, and professional liability policies. Most notable in this regard is Aaron's work on the Champlain Towers South claims, which ultimately settled for over $1 billion. In addition to representing and advising carriers in these high exposure claims, Aaron has extensive experience assisting carriers with policy drafting and insurance product development. He also regularly advises clients on claims handling procedures and regulatory matters. Aaron is based in Miami.

Tara McCormack focuses on a wide range of complex insurance coverage issues. She represents domestic and international insurers, as well as corporate clients, in insurance coverage disputes involving environmental, toxic tort, construction, cyber, product liability, property, and employment issues under standard domestic, Bermuda form, and London Market policies. Tara has handled numerous insurance claims arising out of the nationwide opioid epidemic, as well as sexual abuse claims asserted against various sports and educational organizations. Tara has litigated coverage and bad faith disputes in federal and state courts across the country. She regularly provides pre-suit coverage advice and counseling on large claim losses and risk analysis. As part of her work on complex coverage matters, Tara has experience in e-discovery services, as well as the collection and review of large volumes of electronically-stored information. Following graduation from the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, Tara served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Thomas M. Moore of the New Jersey Superior Court. Tara is based in Basking Ridge.

Brad Pace has extensive experience handling admiralty and maritime litigation, as well as aviation litigation, and is involved in all aspects of the process from intake to resolution. Brad's background in the maritime industry as a ship captain, officer, engineer, and pilot, enables him to deeply understand the issues his clients face and provide them with solutions tailored to their situations. He also advises clients in a wide range of insurance matters, including marine insurance and reinsurance, and insurance coverage. In addition, Brad also handles a wide variety of yacht transactional work. Brad is based in San Francisco.

Junaid Savani has extensive experience representing insurers in complex litigation pending in state and federal courts across the country. He also has significant appellate experience, including arguing before the Eighth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeal. In addition to Florida, Junaid is also barred in Georgia and Tennessee. Junaid is based in Miami.

Thomas Seery focuses his practice on representing and advising clients in complex insurance coverage matters and commercial litigation, including general liability, E&O and professional liability, pollution liability, bad faith, commercial property insurance, and construction defect, toxic tort, catastrophic loss, and policy rescission claims. Thomas represents insurance companies in disputes in both state and federal courts, and has experience leading arbitrations, conducting depositions, and drafting and arguing motions at all stages of litigation. Thomas is based in Philadelphia.

Laura Williamson has a broad commercial practice with a particular focus on trusts disputes and on litigation and arbitration involving the financial services and insurance industries. Many of her cases have a multi-jurisdictional element, including in relation to the UK, US, Brazil, Hong Kong and others. She has recently been recognized in the Legal 500 Caribbean as a 'Rising Star' in the field of dispute resolution and is a recommended lawyer for both dispute resolution and insurance/reinsurance. Laura is based in Bermuda and her promotion to a partner of Kennedys in Bermuda is subject to immigration approval.