Kennedys reviews

3.6

58% would recommend to a friend

(395 total reviews)
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John Bruce

78% approve of CEO

61% positive business outlook

Kennedys has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 395 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Kennedys employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Legal industry (3.8 stars).

Reviews by job title

395 reviews
4.0
Apr 8, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Defense: Certain partners are laid back, helpful, and kind. Depends on the team. Ok work-life balance and benefits. Lots of fun firm events, and supportive co-workers. 30-40 case load (though higher if you're competent). Opportunities to work abroad (secondment program). In-house CLE opportunities. Nice Office Space. Hybrid work schedule.

Cons

Somewhat of a "gunner" culture among associates. Teams are siloed based on partners they work for. Poor communication with policies/procedures. Management puts up a front that they care about well-being and work-life balance but it's all b.s. - they only care about billing. Billing can be a nightmare and difficult to hit at times. Certain carriers cut like crazy and you're expected to do your own appeals (which takes a lot of non-billable time to correct). You end up self-cutting hours or partners cut them for you just to avoid appeals - impacting overall hours. Bonus/salary tied solely to billing - doesn't matter how good your work product is or how hard you work. A lot of Partners have laissez-faire approach and tend to be unresponsive. They then come down hard when things fall through cracks. Assignment system for Support Staff/Paralegal system is confusing and dysfunctional. Some support staff are actively hostile or just don't do the work (though I believe its because they're overworked). Overall diversity of the firm is lacking - especially among management.

2.0
May 25, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

A couple of good partners, looks good on a resume, and does lead to other opportunities.

Cons

You could bill 2500 hours but if you make one mistake, even if at the beginning of the year, you’ll receive at best an insultingly low bonus or raise and will only be one or the other. Notwithstanding your experience level, there are partners (whose input has an effect on your pay raises or bonuses) who will smile in your face and say that you’re incompetent and “bad” behind your back. Once labeled “bad,” it will never change — somehow growing as an attorney doesn’t happen anymore. It’s like many partners forgot that they did not always know or could do everything they do now. You somehow must have the knowledge and abilities they have or you are “bad” and will be treated as disposable as a bubble gum wrapper. Once you’ve made a mistake, even if just internal and part of learning, you will either be treated like you defaulted on a case for five years. If not outright aggression, you will receive a lot of passive aggression and you can file their guidelines exactly, even using the exact verbiage they often use, but they will find something wrong with your work. And don’t expect the partners — who, upon working there, you’ll learn about very quickly — to teach before outcasting you as “bad.” If they tried, and misguided you, it’s your fault for not checking if they were right. You are always at fault and they are perfect. Often, if you’re “bad,” they will concertedly make it so you fail at everything. There’s not one concern about how firing you would hurt your livelihood. They’ll find some other poor young attorney excited by the firm’s website and rankings every where but the US. They pay is awful. You will work big law hours and yes, it is technically a big law firm by attorneys in the firm but it will never reach the vault rankings and unlikely to break the AM law 200. So while having it on a resume helps many, the firm is still unknown to most in NY. If you have other options, take them. Not worth the stress — which brings up another note, they claim to care about mental health and well-being but look aside when partners trash talk associates, complete ignorance to the fact that labeling a young attorney as “bad” will destroy their confidence and likely stall their progression.

1.0
Apr 24, 2023

I do not recommend Credit Control

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Decent global firm with good reputation

Cons

Had a HORRIBLE experience. New managers are nice but old managers are awful. Insurance needs a new manager. No proper training provided.

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