The law firm began in 1954 when Annie Brown Kennedy started practicing law in Winston-Salem. She was joined in 1955 by her husband Harold L. Kennedy, Jr. Their law office was headquartered in the Wachovia Bank Building in downtown Winston-Salem.
‍
          In 1957, the law firm represented the Plaintiffs in the case of Greensboro v. Simkins, 246 F.2d 425 (4th Cir., 1957). This case outlawed racial segregation in public recreational facilities in the South. The City of Greensboro had prohibited African-Americans from playing golf on a public golf course. Although this case dealt with the constitutional right of African-Americans to play golf on a public golf course, the court decision was much broader and opened up public recreational facilities to all Americans regardless of race.
‍
         The law firm was involved in one of the most important civil rights cases in the last fifty (50) years at the United States Supreme Court during the 1988 and 1989 terms. The firm represented Brenda Patterson in her case of racial harassment and discrimination against her employer pursuant to 42 U.S.C.S. § 1981, the civil rights statute that was passed by Congress after the civil war. See Patterson v. McLean Credit Union, 491 U.S. 164, 109 S.Ct. 2363, 105 L.Ed2d 132 (1989).

          This case became one of the most high-profile civil rights cases in that the Supreme Court was deciding whether to overrule years of judicial precedent. The Court decided that its precedents were correct and reaffirmed that 42 U.S.C.S. § 1981 prohibits racial discrimination in the making and enforcement of private contracts. Further, the Supreme Court enunciated a standard for proving discrimination in promotions which made it easier for Plaintiffs to prevail. Filing Briefs of Amici Curiae urging the Supreme Court to rule for Patterson were 66 members of the United States Senate, the largest number of United States Senators to file an Amicus Curiae Brief in a case at the United States Supreme Court in United States history. This was one of the cases that led to the U.S. Congress passing the Civil Rights Act of 1991.

          The law firm has handled many groundbreaking cases at the North Carolina Appellate Courts. The most famous case is Hogan v. Forsyth Country Club Co., 79 N.C. App. 483, 340 S.E.2d 116 (1986), which allowed women to sue for sexual harassment based on intentional infliction of emotional distress. This was the first sexual harassment case in North Carolina. When Plaintiff April Cornatzer's case was tried before a jury in Forsyth County in 1986, the jury awarded her a verdict of $900,000. That was the largest jury verdict in Forsyth County history at that time.

          The firm also represented the Plaintiff in Brown v. Burlington Industries, Inc., 93 N.C. App. 431, 378 SE.D.2d 222 (1988), review dismissed as improvidently granted, 326 N.C. 356, 388 S.E.2d 769 (1990). A jury in Rockingham County returned a verdict in favor of the Plaintiff in a sexual harassment case. The corporation appealed to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the Judgment. The verdict was also upheld at the North Carolina Supreme Court.

          This firm pioneered the tort of wrongful discharge from employment in violation of public policy in North Carolina. It brought the case of Amos v. Oakdale Knitting Co., 331 N.C. 348, 416 S.E.2d 166 (1992), where the Supreme Court of North Carolina held that the Plaintiffs who had been discharged from their employment because they refused to work for less than the minimum wage had the right to bring a lawsuit for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy in North Carolina.

          In Combs v. City Electric Supply Co., 203 N.C. App. 75, 690 S.E.2d 719 (2010), the firm represented a Plaintiff who was allegedly terminated from his employment because he refused to engage in illegal conduct. The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that he had the right to have a jury decide his claims for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy and tortious interference with contractual rights.

          In Barker v. Kimberly-Clark Corp., 136 N.C. App. 455, 524 S.E.2d 821 (2000), the firm represented the Plaintiff against Kimberly-Clark Corp, where Plaintiff alleged that she had been wrongfully terminated from her employment and that Defendant corporation was liable for slander per se. The Court of Appeals ruled that Plaintiff had presented evidence to prove her claims of wrongful discharge in violation of public policy and tortious interference with contractual rights.

          The law firm represented the Estate of John Henry Perry v. Onward Healthcare, Inc. Carolane Marsh and Dr. Michael Alston in a medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuit in Hertford County in 2013. The jury ruled for the Estate and awarded $4 million dollars, which was the largest jury verdict in tho history of Hertford County.

          In 2014, the law firm represented the Estate of Kelly Casstevens Jarvis against Dr. Peter Mcilveen for medical malpractice-wrongful death. A jury in Surry County awarded Plaintiff a verdict of $4.5 million dollars, which was the largest jury verdict in the history of Surry County.

          Finally, in 2016, the law firm represented the Plaintiff in Laura Haas v. Cooper Riis, Inc. in Buncombe County. The jury returned a verdict of $3.6 million dollars. The case was settled for $4 million dollars before the issue of punitive damages was sent to the jury. This was the largest jury verdict for an individual in a wrongful termination from employment case in North Carolina.

          On June 22, 2019, the North Carolina Advocates for Justice presented a special award to the law firm of Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy and Kennedy, LLP at its Annual Convention "for significantly furthering the Cause of Justice and the Mission of NCAJ."