DWF has agreed an exclusive association with US law firm Wood Smith Henning & Berman, continuing its run of international expansion ahead of a potential initial public offering (IPO) next year.

The association with Los Angeles-based Wood Smith, which generated revenues of $81m (£62m) during its last financial year, adds 56 partners, 250 lawyers and 22 US offices to DWF's international network.

For DWF, it represents the latest international excursion this year, following new office launches in Singapore, Italy, Qatar and Australia, new practice launches in France and the United Arab Emirates, as well as an expansion into Istanbul through an exclusive alliance with local firm Ozkan Law.

DWF shares various synergies with Wood Smith. Both firms have a strong focus on the insurance sector with strengths in the commercial, construction, employment, professional liability and real estate space. And like DWF, Wood Smith has engaged in a period of rapid expansion in the past few years by opening new offices in Atlanta, Miami and Philadelphia, among others.

DWF managing partner Andrew Leaitherland said: "Through this association we will be able to seamlessly serve those clients by bringing our model of complex, managed and connected services to the world's largest market for both legal and insurance services.

"We have been considering our US growth strategy for some time, working to ensure that we found a partner that shares our values. We were particularly impressed by Wood Smith's commitment to invest in technology and a willingness to embrace innovation. They share our desire to transform the delivery of legal services."

Wood Smith chairman Daniel Berman added: "Partnering with DWF will enable us to move into the next phase of our development by not only tapping into an international network, but also by being able to access DWF's innovative connected services business. This will allow us to provide our clients with multidisciplinary teams across different professional and business services in an integrated way.

Earlier this month, DWF posted top line growth of 18%, pushing turnover to £236m, in what could be its final set of financial results before its proposed IPO, which the firm confirmed it was considering in June. Were that listing to go ahead, DWF would top the potential Ince Gordon Dadds to become the largest listed UK law firm.