Kennedy received his Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude from Hamilton College and received his Juris Doctor cum laude from the University at Buffalo Law School in 1988 while serving as Editor of the Buffalo Law Review.

[1][2] After graduation from law school, he served as a law clerk to Judges Michael F. Dillon and M. Dolores Denman of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division.

In 1992, he was hired as an Assistant United States Attorney and in 1993 became an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Attorney, prosecuting narcotics, violent crime and police corruption cases.

In April 2010, he was selected by the United States Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. to be First Assistant U.S.

[1] On October 29, 2016, he was designated Acting United States Attorney.