We don't try out new ventures lightly at Legal Week, but we do like to keep evolving what we do. As such, one of our most interesting developments currently is our plan to take the brand into Asia. That aim has seen us recruit a new Asia editor, who will be based full-time in our parent company's Hong Kong office after a brief period in London. 

Our new recruit, Elizabeth Broomhall, comes to us after a couple of years of business reporting in the Middle East, and will have already been contacting many of the most active firms in Asia by the time this leader is published. We are supporting this push with dedicated commercial and events staff based in Asia. 

We don't see this as a case of putting together a few supplements. We aim to genuinely extend the Legal Week brand into the region across our reporting, but also through an expanding roster of events and client resources, such as the Asian version of our popular online library Legal Week Law, while next week sees the launch of our first event dedicated to senior in-house lawyers in Hong Kong.

That does not mean you have to buy into plentiful Asian hype to think it is worth focusing on the region. While it is plain that there has been a substantial shift in power eastwards, Asia remains a vast, wildly varied arena which will ultimately prove inhospitable to many of the international firms now flocking in. There has always been a loose link between the size of an economy and the depth of its legal market, and it will be decades before some local economies will provide much meat for advisers. 

I know some international firms already think mainland China is a lost cause – one factor behind the diversification of Asian networks over the past two years. Throw in the patchwork of bar restrictions and protectionism, not to mention clear signs this year that China is not immune to the woes of the global economy, and there will be no shortage of broken ambitions in the region.

Yet the fact remains that Asia has become a key battleground for the world's top law firms – possibly the battleground for the next decade – and navigating this terrain will define the future of many global challengers. As such, I hope Legal Week proves to be there for the long haul and we learn to evolve our coverage, events and resources as the market itself develops. 

As we have never based staff in a foreign market previously, I have no doubt there will be a bit of trial and error involved, and some notions we have about what works will have to be adapted or abandoned. But we'll be looking to gather ideas from readers about what they want to see in Asia-related coverage. Suggestions gratefully received.