Pinsent Masons has hired the chief executive of Australian law firm Maddocks to lead a review of opportunities for a launch down under.

David Rennick will join Pinsents as a consultant early next year, with the task of presenting partners with a set of recommendations on opportunities in the Australian legal market.

A spokesperson for Pinsents said: "We have made excellent progress towards achieving our vision of becoming a law firm of truly international reach, and as part of that programme of growth are giving careful consideration to how we can capitalise on opportunities in the Australian market."

Pinsents said the review would address how a market presence in Australia could link with the firm's offices and client base in and around Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.

"It would be premature to speculate at this stage about what the outcome of that review might be," a statement added.

"David is a senior, well-respected figure in the region, well known to many of us, and his role on joining us will be to assist the senior management of the firm in evaluating the opportunities and make recommendations to the firm's partnership accordingly.

Pinsents has undergone a period of concerted international expansion in recent years, pushing it up the list of top UK firms by revenue to 13th in 2012-13.

Last year, the firm opened new bases in Munich and Paris, and added offices in Doha and the Falkland Islands when it combined with Scottish outfit McGrigors.

This July, Pinsents also identified six key African countries that present the greatest potential for growth for the firm, following an 18-month strategy review of opportunities in the continent.