Kennedys has continued its run of international expansion with office openings in Paris and Bangkok.

The insurance firm is to open in Paris with a four-partner team from French litigation boutique BOPS Avocats, and in Thailand with two partners from DLA Piper.

The Paris office will be led by Christian Bouckaert, former senior partner and co-founder of BOPS. He will be joined by partners Alexis Valencon, Auralia Cadain and Nicolas Bouckaert, with the office to focus on insurance and reinsurance, litigation and commercial advice.

The team has worked with Kennedys on a number of matters in the past, including major losses arising from the 2008 Channel Tunnel fire.

Meanwhile, in Bangkok, Kennedys has hired senior DLA's Bangkok insurance and disputes partner Suraphon Rittipongchusit, who is joining alongside corporate and commercial partner Supreedee Nimitkul.

They will be joined by senior associate Tassanu Chutikanon and solicitor and foreign-qualified lawyer Ian Johnston, who will relocate from Kennedy's Singapore office.

Speaking about the Paris hires, Kennedys senior partner Nick Thomas said: "Paris is too important a market for us not to have a presence there in our own name. We know from our years of working together that Christian and his team understand the culture and ambitions of Kennedys."

He added about Bangkok: "The decision to enter Bangkok is a classic example of responding to client demand. With little international insurance law expertise available in Thailand, there was a real need for what we can offer and that has been reflected in the exceptionally positive response we have had from clients."

The two new launches are the latest in a series of expansion efforts both internationally and in the UK.

Earlier this year, the firm completed a merger with US insurance firm Carroll McNulty & Kull (CMK), which saw 43 partners from the New Jersey-based CMK join Kennedys' US offering. CMK has offices in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Texas.

Including today's launches and the five new offices in the US, Kennedys has gained nine international offices in 2017, with the firm also opening in Melbourne and Mexico City, as well as announcing a formal association with Italian firm Studio Legale Rinaldi Associati.

It also sealed a merger with Manchester firm Berg earlier this summer.