Magistrate Kennedy graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology. He taught 7th and 8th grade Social Studies, Fine Arts and Literature and worked in accounting before applying to law school in 1984. He graduated from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1987, was admitted to the California State Bar in 1987 and the Colorado State Bar in 1990. He has been in private practice in Mesa County since 1993. His areas of practice included insurance defense, family law, dependency and neglect, juvenile delinquency, criminal defense, adoptions, mental health and probate.