International firm Kennedys is strengthening its European presence with tie-ups in Scandinavia.

The firm announced today it is merging with Danish practice Erritzøe.

It is forming ‘associations’ with Norwegian firm Kogstad Lunde & Co and Swedish firm NorelidHolm. The associations mean each will recommend the other to clients for services locally on a non-exclusive basis. 

All three deals come into effect on 1 January.

Kennedys’ senior partner Nick Thomas (pictured) said he was ‘delighted’ to expand with ‘trusted’ friends.

Thomas said: ‘The region is a major user of insurance products. Expanding our international reach is key to our strategy, and this is a further example of our ambition to provide assistance to our core clients in all classes of business wherever they wish us to be.’

Advokatfirmaet Erritzøe, a four-partner, 12-lawyer firm in Copenhagen, became a Kennedys-associated office in 2012. It acts for several global and domestic insurers on higher-value/complex claims including public liability, directors and officers, professional indemnity and as counsel for leading C20 companies.

Kogstad Lunde & Co, a six-partner, 10-lawyer firm in Oslo, specialises in insurance and tort law.

Insurance and reinsurance is one of Advokatfirman NorelidHolm’s ‘prime specialist fields’, according to its website. The two-partner, eight-lawyer firm is based in Stockholm.

The latest developments come towards the end of a year in which Kennedys opened offices in Scotland, entered into a joint venture agreement with Singapore firm Legal Solutions and established Kennedys CIS Advocates in Russia.