Osborne Clarke (OC) is set to launch in the Netherlands with a new office in Amsterdam.

The office is slated to open next spring. The firm is aiming to staff the base with a team of about five to seven partners on the ground, whose appointments are still in the pipeline.

The practice will focus initially on digital business work, with a view to expanding to more sectors including finance, real estate and renewable energy.

The firm has been in expansion mode in the past year, having launched offices in Paris and Brussels in the summer and New York in October. The Amsterdam launch would bring its office count to 17.

OC managing partner Simon Beswick said: "We have been working with clients in the north of the US for 20 years now, and our expansion plans in Europe are shaped by where they want legal services. We have been working on launching in Amsterdam since we opened in Paris in July."

Beswick added that the firm was monitoring the legal markets in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Middle East and Russia for expansion opportunities.

"Most of our international workflow at the moment comes from the north of the US and from our India group. After we build our European presence the next step is considering what opportunities there might be for us in the Far East.

"It is evident there are revenues to be had in Asia. The Middle East and Russia are also areas of interest. There are many opportunities for hotels work to be found in the Middle East, and disputes work in Moscow and St Petersburg."

OC merged with alliance partners in Spain and Italy in 2012, which created an international network under a verein structure.