Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) is mulling plans to bring its Belfast outsourcing model to Asia to handle document review work in the region. 

The UK firm's incoming global head of disputes Justin D'Agostino said the move would be high on his agenda following the recent growth of the Northern Irish base, which has ballooned from 19 to 146 lawyers in three years.

"For us Belfast has been a huge success," he told Legal Week. "Clients have really embraced it, and now I'd like to see how we can extend that client service in Asia Pacific.

"It is an area where we've been very innovative and I would like to take that learning to the next level. There are lots of ways we can do that – you could set up a function in Asia or develop Belfast to handle a larger amount of work from the region. We are looking at all options."

Libby Jackson director of HSF Belfast, added: "We have conducted document review for clients of the Hong Kong office before so we absolutely have the capacity to service Asia from the Belfast office.

"The question we need to ask is what our clients need in the region. If our clients need an offering based in Asia we would definitely consider it."

D'Agostino will take over the global disputes role from Sonya Leydecker on 1 May, when Leydecker becomes the firm's joint CEO.

HSF's Belfast base opened in April 2011 with a team of lawyers focused on reviewing documents related to major contentious work, notably in litigation, arbitration and regulatory investigations.

The aim was to reduce the cost base for the firm, which in turn means it can charge lower fees to clients for disputes work – which is typically charged at an hourly rate.

The Belfast team has grown from 26 staff and 19 fee earners, half of which were qualified lawyers, to 150 staff, 146 of which are fee earners and half of those qualified lawyers.  

As well as supporting the disputes teams, the centre also provides lawyers to clients as part of a service to help in-house teams manage routine work.

Since March last year it has additionally been carrying out due diligence and contract reviews on corporate, finance and real estate transactions.

The firm is already considering using Belfast to support disputes work in Australia, with a review on how to do this expected to conclude in April.

Other offices with large cost bases in Asia include Hong Kong and Singapore, where rents in the central business districts are among the most expensive in the world.

Related: HSF hands global disputes leadership role to China managing partner