Kennedys returns to DLA for fresh pickings
Kennedys returns to DLA for fresh pickings" />DLA Piper’s Birmingham office has been hit by a second recruitment assault from insurance heavyweight Kennedys.
DLA Piper’s professional indemnity (PI) head Eamon Mooney will lead Kennedys’ PI team in Birmingham and will be joined by partners Robert Welfare, Khalid Mahmood and two legal directors.
It comes just months after Kennedys took eight fee-earners ;from ;its Birmingham rival.
Sources said DLA Piper’s lawyers were increasingly being conflicted out of UK-based PI and professional liability work, prompting teams to look for employment elsewhere.
One source said: “People are beginning to question just how dedicated DLA is to the PI sector. Especially as they recently lost a team to Brodies in Scotland.”
DLA Piper denied the claim. Birmingham managing partner Chris Rawstron said: ;“We’re ;recruiting fee-earners in this area and still have a strong team. Any rumours about us moving away from insurance are a pack of lies.”
Rawstron said the office had been through an “unsettled period”, but added: “We have a sizeable insurance team in Birmingham and it contributes very well to our balance sheet.”
The news comes after DLA Piper lost its sole remaining Scottish real estate partner (The Lawyer, 8 ;December). ;Anne McGregor left for Bell & Scott following the departure of property partners David Thompson and Graeme Sunter last month.
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