Kennedys is set to launch a new office in Miami next month in a bid to move closer to its Latin American and Caribbean clients.

The office, which will open on 1 October, will be headed by insurance and reinsurance partner Alex Guillamont, who is transferring from the firm's Madrid office.

Guillamont will be joined by associate Paula Jimenez and paralegal Karla Salguero. The office will focus on insurance claims and non-contentious issues.

The new base marks the fast-growing firm's seventh office outside the UK in addition to nine further international associations. The Miami office will not practise US law.

Senior partner Nick Thomas said: "Over the years we have been receiving increasing amounts of Latin American and Caribbean work into both London and Madrid, so it made sense for us to have someone in the same time zone to respond and provide a service quickly.

"Some of our competitors are already in other Latin American cities, but we have taken the view that to choose one of the many jurisdictions may cause as many problems as it solves and it is better, like many of our clients, to be in Miami with an overview of and easy access to the whole region."

The move comes in response to a number of major insurers such as Chartis, ACE and Liberty setting up regional headquarters in Miami in co-operation with their corporate centres in the UK, Europe and elsewhere in the US.

Kennedys launched an office in Sheffield in July this year with the hire of a 70-strong team from Halliwells. The firm moved up to 34th place in this year's Legal Week UK top 50 after entering the rankings for the first time in 2009.