Jerome Kennedy is the oldest of nine children of Patrick and Flora Kennedy of Carbonear. Mr. Kennedy grew up on London Road and attended St. Joseph's Elementary School in Carbonear. He attended high school at St. Francis in Harbour Grace and graduated in 1976.  Mr. Kennedy graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1981 with a B.A.(Hons.). He then attended the University of New Brunswick Law School and graduated in 1984 with an LL.B. Mr. Kennedy was admitted to the Newfoundland Bar in 1985.

Mr. Kennedy has been a criminal lawyer for 20 years and was counsel at the Lamer Inquiry in St. John's. He is a director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC) and has worked on wrongful conviction cases throughout Canada. Mr. Kennedy was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2005.

Mr. Kennedy has served as a director of the LSPU Hall and the Stella Burry Foundation (which provides housing and education in the downtown community). He also has been involved as a volunteer in minor hockey and basketball.

Mr. Kennedy lives in St. John's with his wife Rachel and their two children, Julia and Michael.