Team

Tim began his career in marketing before moving into general management where he held senior positions in a number of large international organizations, completing an MBA from Warwick University along the way.
He gained significant experience of working with lawyers across a wide range of commercial areas and since founding Kennedy Cater has worked with both private and public sector clients. His particular focus is on the social housing, local government and NHS sectors.

Peter passionately believes that legal is a spend category that can be controlled (without any diminution in the quality of the advice provided) and works hard with clients and lawyers alike to deliver first class legal solutions at a fair price, deploying Kennedy Cater’s unique market and process knowledge and innovative pricing models. Prior to founding Kennedy Cater, Peter practised as a barrister for 15 years and also worked for a leading City law firm. The experience he gained in delivering legal services to clients inspired him to set up Kennedy Cater and informs the proposition that it offers.

Jen joined Kennedy Cater in November 2022 and brings over 15 years of experience to the role. Jen’s career started as a tech and telecoms lawyer at Osborne Clarke before moving in-house to support several global technology businesses including hibu (formerly Yell), K3 and most recently heading up the EMEA legal team at Blue Yonder.

Each of those global tech businesses were undergoing strategic transformations following a change in leaders and/or investors which has forged Jen’s adaptable and “hands-on” approach to the broad legal function. Jen has witnessed, first-hand, the very real struggles of, often over-stretched and time-poor, in-house legal teams and is passionate about problem solving and continuous improvement.

Martin is an (MD-experienced) business development specialist with 30+ years’ B2B experience, dealing with clients and prospects predominantly at board level.

He successfully built five-star hospitality support services specialist arena21 from start-up to 250 employees in seven years, including increasing sales eightfold and profits twenty-fold in his five years as Managing Director, before growing the corporate client side of Criticaleye, a membership organisation for Board Directors, predominantly in the UK and Asia.

In the three years prior to joining KC, he established the UK corporate market for Finquest, a global technology firm using advanced Artificial Intelligence to help clients improve their deal sourcing when looking to grow through acquisition.

Martin joins at an exciting time; his experience will be invaluable in helping KC build on its presence in existing markets and develop new ones, as it fulfils its ambitious growth ambitions over the coming years.

Charlie is a strategic and analytical lawyer with experience in private practice and the litigation funding industry prior to joining Kennedy Cater in November 2024. Over his career so far, Charlie has developed an unusual perspective on litigation and dispute resolution. As a commercial litigator, Charlie’s work in private practice spanned a broad range of disputes, providing direct experience of the challenges facing clients and legal teams in litigious contexts. Having moved into litigation funding, Charlie leveraged his legal experience and analytical skills to adopt a more commercial and objective view of litigation through the lens of investment and asset management considerations.

In his role as Head of Litigation Services, Charlie can use his unique skillset to assist clients with all aspects of litigation and dispute management, from selecting and appointing a legal team, budgeting and spend management, to tactical and analytical input. Charlie’s insights and fresh perspective on litigation help clients manage disputes in a cost effective and commercially rational manner.

Charlie is a qualified Solicitor in England and Wales and maintains a practicing certificate.

Susan has worked as an in house general commercial lawyer for 17 years. She has previously been Legal Counsel for British Gas Plc and Head of Legal at Nicoventures, part of British American Tobacco Plc, and now specializes in commercial contracts.
Her industry experience crosses many sectors from: banking, utilities, retail, tobacco and pharmaceutical to digital media, PR and corporate training companies; from global PLCs to start ups. Her approach to law is one of flexibility and transparency; ensuring that a clear, fair and easy to read working document is created for businesses to use rather than to collect dust in a drawer.

John is a qualified Solicitor and chartered Company Secretary (Fellow).
John spent his early years in private practice (litigation/commercial), before moving in-house, first as General Counsel and Company Secretary at Saga and subsequently as General Counsel, Company Secretary for each of Saga, the AA and Acromas, having been instrumental in the buy-out of the AA and subsequent formation of the Acromas Group. He held a number of director appointments within the Acromas Group.
In 2012 he joined McCarthy & Stone as its General Counsel and Company Secretary.
John has considerable experience in commercial and corporate matters and has in-depth knowledge of the world of private equity.

Jon is a qualified solicitor, holds a diploma in regulation & compliance and is a member of the institute of risk managers. Jon trained at Norton Rose and has worked in-house at a number of companies including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, BNP Paribas, Whitbread, Ocado and Legal & General. Having previously worked as general counsel, head of compliance, company secretary and head of governance, Jon provides his clients with legal regulatory and transactional support, advising them on compliance and governance matters in addition to risk management. He has implemented a number of major regulatory initiatives and has particular expertise in data privacy matters and complex financial products.

Beth is a recognized expert in local authority governance, having worked in this field for over 35 years.
She was an in-house lawyer for nearly 20 years at four different councils in England, including posts as County Solicitor and Director of Corporate Services in a unitary council. Beth led the Welsh Local Government Agency responsible for improvement and development in Welsh local government for three years. In 2001 Beth moved to a role as a partner with Bevan Brittan LLP where she led the local government team for 17 years, for 4 years of which she was Senior Partner of the firm.
In her role with Kennedy Cater, Beth chairs the bi monthly LBLA meetings for heads of legal and provides consultancy advice on projects.

Lisa joined Kennedy Cater from one of the UK’s most successful Lifestyle Management companies, where she was General Manager. Prior to that she was Head of Sales and Marketing for the Institute of Directors’ Centre for Director Development and was part of the Institute’s Senior Management team.

Lina joined Kennedy Cater at the beginning of 2016.

Her background is in the Public Sector, having previously worked for a Housing Association.

She holds a Bachelors degree in Business Management & Spanish and is a real asset to our team.

Steven has over 25 years’ experience as a corporate and commercial lawyer specializing in legal issues and transactions in corporate/commercial, financial services and public-private projects.

He was a partner at global top 10 firm, worked with major law firms in the UK, Europe, America and Asia, and has extensive experience as an in-house counsel, including as general counsel/head of legal for mid-cap companies and a UK government-funded space sector research organization.

Steven’s work extends across commercial/corporate, business acquisitions and sales, investment and new ventures, financial services, and advice up to board level on broader business issues. In his in-house roles he provides support for company secretary and compliance functions.

Graeme joined Kennedy Cater in June 2017 as Client Services Consultant.

He has over 11 years experience in various customer service and content management roles.

Graeme’s depth of experience and attention to detail ensures that our clients receive excellent levels of service.

Allison joined Kennedy Cater in March 2023 as Finance and Operations Manager.

A skilled and effective Finance and Operations executive with a competent planning, organisational and solutions-oriented approach. Allison has joined us to support areas of Finance, handling accounts payable and accounts receivable and administration operations related to the finance function.

Allison has worked within large corporate companies such as SAP and Gartner, small privately owned companies and both a borough managed and academy-based school, bringing with her a wealth of varied experience.

Elissa is an Edinburgh University graduate and has advised businesses and high-profile clients on both corporate and commercial legal issues for over ten years. She has extensive private practice and in-house experience across a wide range of sectors, including general commercial, gaming and media. Elissa's experience focuses on drafting and negotiating a range of commercial documents and risk management. She has a fundamental understanding of how businesses (whether large or small), operate and her advice reflects this. Elissa has a practical, hands on approach with clients and a strong belief in articulating risks whilst at the same time finding the best solution for their business needs.

Elissa is a qualified solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales and a Registered European Lawyer

Richard studied law at Durham University before training with a leading regional firm in Newcastle upon Tyne.
He qualified as a solicitor in 2010 after specializing in employment law. In 2011 Richard moved to London and joined Kennedy Cater as a Consultant in the Client Services Team.

Ross is admitted as a solicitor in both the England and Wales, and Ireland, and he holds a practising certificate in both of those jurisdictions. He trained and practised primarily in private practice, but has also worked in a number of in house type roles in Australia, including more recently acting as Legal Counsel for a large mining and mining services company. Ross has extensive experience in Mergers and Acquisitions and Corporate and Commercial matters but generally practices in the areas of Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Governance and Compliance, Corporate Finance and Banking, Commercial Contracts, and Shareholder Arrangements. His practice focuses on representing growing and mature businesses with their corporate and commercial requirements.

Emma is a qualified Solicitor with a wealth of experience covering a broad range of intellectual property and general commercial law.

Emma spent several years working as a litigator in private practice, across two market leaders in the provision of legal services to the entertainment, media and branding sectors. In 2019, Emma shifted her focus to consultancy work, providing legal services and IP portfolio management to various well known brands across a variety of sectors, from corporate L&D, to fashion and retail, to music and sport. Emma employs a pragmatic, solutions-based approach to her work, balancing the requirements of fast-paced, ever-evolving commercial environments with the security of ensuring protection of the clients’ interests and minimising risk.

Marc is a seasoned commercial contract negotiator with over 30 years experience in the IT sector.

He spent the early part of his career in the engineering industry before moving into the IT sector, concentrating on the provision of IT products and services. He is an experienced Commercial Director and headed up in-house legal teams whilst working in blue chip organisations including SAP, BMC Software and Splunk Inc, working with both their domestic and global clients and partners.

Marc strongly believes in adopting a collaborative approach to business and is always keen to understand his customers’ underlying needs and motivation in order to achieve optimal contractual outcomes.

Dr. Boris Boersch is a business and entrepreneur-minded lawyer with more than 20 years of experience. Focusing on working and acting as the external General Counsel / Legal Department for national and international clients, Boris likes to understand the business needs, the products and services and the internal culture of his clients, in order to find pragmatic solutions for legal challenges and needs. Boris provides, inter alia, negotiation support for commercial contracts, drafting and structuring his clients contract templates, assisting with legal compliance matters in the early stage of service/product development and also assisting with labour law and the corporate structuring. A lot of his clients are in the software or SaaS sector, but e.g. also in the food sector and producer of construction equipment. Boris is also an entrepreneur himself, has founded various companies and has an advisory board role in a software/SaaS company and thereby benefits from his own entrepreneurial experience when acting for his clients.

Kirstin is a commercial solicitor and would describe herself as a generalist when it comes to commercial and corporate law. Kirstin worked for over a decade in a varied, fast-paced combined commercial and corporate department within a highly respected north-east of Scotland firm. There she gained significant experience in many aspects of commercial and corporate law ranging from company administration and secretarial work to multi-million pound transactions and everything in between. Kirstin has worked with local SME's, national and international companies and multi-national organizations across many sectors including shipping, fisheries, renewables, hospitality, fitness and IT.

Kirstin relishes the variety and challenges that come with working across a number of projects for various sectors but enjoys getting to know each client and working with them to find practical, commercially effective solutions whatever the issue.

Ben Kaplinsky was educated at Bristol University and trained at top tier London law firm CMS Cameron McKenna, completed the Seed to Exit Programme at the Cambridge University Business School and practised as a barrister for five years a member of Lincoln’s Inn.  He has a keen focus on the intersection between law and emerging technologies and for the last five years he has supported a range of innovating fast-growing high -tech businesses specialising in helping companies successfully leverage new technologies for competitive advantage.   He has acted as in-house counsel for a wide range of dynamic and industry leading high tech businesses including start-ups, high growth scale-ups, listed companies and was Director of Law and Technology at Kingfisher PLC.  As well as mitigating risks and reducing costs he always aims to operate creatively as a solution focused business enabler.  He is an excellent listener and communicator and thrives as part of high performing multi-disciplinary teams.

Kim joined Kennedy Cater as Senior Client Services Consultant in September 2023.

She brings many years’ experience within bids and has worked in procurement across multiple industries within both the private and public sectors.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Hertfordshire.