Osborne Clarke has set up its third representative US office with the launch of a base in San Francisco.

The office, located in South of Market (SoMa), will be headed by corporate partner Steve Wilson, who also oversees the firm's Silicon Valley office in Palo Alto.

Wilson will split his team between Silicon Valley and San Francisco, while the firm will also be staffed by a rotating team of lawyers from the firm's European offices.

The firm set up in New York last October, while the Silicon Valley outpost was established in 2001.

Wilson said: "The emergence of the SoMa market means we now have two distinct markets to support, one in Silicon Valley and now in San Francisco. The new office allows us to add greater value to our ever expanding client base.

"We have a unique model with our UK and European lawyers permanently based in Palo Alto and San Francisco. We provide real time European advice within the Pacific timezone and give our clients access to specialised advisors across the wider firm."

The move brings Osborne Clarke's office count to 17. It comes after the firm last December outlined its intentions to launch in the Netherlands this spring with a new office in Amsterdam. Last summer the firm also launched offices in Paris and Brussels.