Kennedys—Darren Goldthorpe & Gary Brankin

Both join from BC Legal, bringing with them Harjinder Gill, senior associate, Liam Bedford, senior associate and Rachel Durant, litigation executive.

Darren, who previously worked at DAC Beachcroft, and Beresfords, is an expert in noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) claims and has a special interest in all aspects of medical causation. His practice covers claims of higher/lower frequency losses and those which involve exposure from non-traditional sources, alongside a wide variety of disease claims. He has managed a mixed portfolio of disease claims for major corporations.

Gary worked with Darren at BCL and DAC Beachcroft. He is primarily focussed on managing a team running high value asbestos litigation in the High Court, with a primary focus on the Local Authority sector.

Darren and Gary share a keen interest in tech innovation having worked together to develop IT tools which helped to deliver the lowest average case cost, lowest total claimants costs paid and the highest number of nil settlements, together with the highest repudiation rate of 77% across a portfolio of over 22,000 NIHL claims.

Richard West, partner, Kennedys said: “We’ve known Gary and Darren for a number of years. Both are liked and highly respected within this field, and their recruitment marks our intention to grow our disease practice further. I’m particularly pleased that they share our passion for utilising technology to advance the claims process.”

Darren Goldthorpe said: “Kennedys is going to be a natural home for us. A combination of their innovation and reputation in this sector, matched with Kennedys depth of knowledge in the general insurance sector will help us to build our practice and support our clients.”