To meet client needs, U.K. firm Kennedys expanded its U.S. reach to the West Coast by launching an office in San Francisco on Thursday with a four-partner maritime team from Hinshaw & Culbertson.

Clients have been asking the firm to open an office in California, Christopher Carroll, a partner in New York and Basking Ridge, New Jersey, who is on the firm's global strategy board, said in a press release.

"We have seen significant demand from our existing U.S. clients over the last few years to open in California, and this sees us respond to that," Carroll said.