Sidley Austin is to triple the size of its Singapore office in the next two months as it looks to grow the base to around 50 lawyers in the next three years.

The US firm, one of four to be awarded a licence to practice local law in February, will relocate from its existing office on level 41 of 6 Battery Road, sized 4,800 sq ft, to a new space on level 31 of the same building, sized 12,200 sq ft.

The move is expected to happen in September or October, with an existing group of more than 12 lawyers making the switch.

It follows the hire of four new partners in the last six months, and comes ahead of further anticipated recruiting in the energy, projects, disputes and life sciences space.

"We expect to grow that office to about 50 lawyers in the next three years, so we need more space," said Thomas Albrecht (pictured), the firm's Asia managing partner.

"Law firms are looking at Singapore for a lot of reasons, and local law is just one of them."

Singapore has become an increasingly competitive market in the last year as high numbers of firms have flocked to open offices there. Those still considering a market launch include King & Wood Mallesons, Paul Hastings and Australian firm Minter Ellison.

But in spite of the competition, Albrecht said he was optimistic about the firm's growth in the city-state due to favourable macroeconomic circumstances.

"Our clients live with competition every day, and so do law firms. You're never going to just walk into a market and have market share, you have to earn it. The legal market in Singapore will continue to grow in absolute terms because of the economic growth in the region.

"And we are just getting started. We have been very focused on hiring at least one partner in certain practice sectors. We were fortunate that people we were really interested in were willing to make a move at this time. We anticipate making more opportunistic hiring in the near future.

Asked whether the firm would also consider other markets in Southeast Asia, Albrecht said he wouldn't rule it out.

"Right now we are focused on ramping up in Singapore. That doesn't preclude associations and offices in other places, but right now there is nothing imminent."

Sidley Austin currently has five partners and 12 lawyers listed on its website for the Singapore office, but taking into account recent hires now counts eight partners and nearer to 20 lawyers.

The firm, which also has offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and Sydney, has hired four partners for the office since March, including Clifford Chance top ranked funds partner Han Ming Ho, Morgan Lewis & Bockius M&A partner Gregory Salathe, energy M&A partner Tju Liang Chua from Vinson & Elkins and project finance partner Nicholas Grambas from Gilbert + Tobin.

After being awarded the Qualifying Foreign Law Practice (QFLP) licence in February, the firm has focused on ramping up mainly in areas such as energy and infrastructure and projects and finance. It also plans to grow in life sciences and arbitration.