PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) wants to double the number of lawyers working in Asia over the next five years as part of a global strategy to grow its legal services revenue from $500m to $1bn (£600m).

The 'big four' accounting firm aims to have approximately 500 lawyers based in the region, compared with a current headcount of 250. It has targeted an increase in revenue from Asian legal services from $75m to between $150m and $200m, with expansion into new jurisdictions on the agenda.

Andrew Wheeler, the head of legal for Australia and Asia Pacific, said: "I would say for us to achieve our target of moving on a global basis to that billion dollar mark, we're going to have to see at least another 250 lawyers throughout Asia. If you worked on the six staff to one partner ratio, maybe 70 or 80 who would be partners.

"[On revenues] if we're moving to that billion we [Asia] are going to have to increase our share of that. A lot of the growth will come through the Asian region. A realistic percentage would be about 15-20% [of global income]."

PwC currently provides legal advice in seven Asia-Pacific jurisdictions: Australia, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, Laos, Thailand and the Philippines. The firm now wants to expand into Singapore, Hong Kong and China, Japan and Indonesia, with a focus on core practices such as mid-market M&A, compliance, employment, industrial relations, immigration and tax.

Other areas of interest include Korea, while it will also look to offer real estate and energy and natural resources counsel in relevant markets.

"There are some jurisdictions that we must be in if we are going to properly service our clients from a legal perspective," said Wheeler.

"In Singapore and Hong Kong for example many of our clients have their regional headquarters in either of those places. There are other areas in Asia where we think we also need to be, particularly where we see strong cross border trade and investment flows, examples would be Japan and China. There's also Indonesia. And we have a strong Korean desk so that could well be on the radar."

Singapore will likely be the first new jurisdiction, with the firm currently reviewing its options in the country.

Wheeler said it would make sense for the firm to offer local law advice through one partnership and one brand in all markets subject to regulatory requirements.

"What we need to do is look at the local rules, speak to the regulators and see what is possible," he said. "We're in discussions with regulators in some of the jurisdictions."

He added that the firm would be looking to make local hires in each market, and would consider acquiring small firms as well as recruiting teams and individuals laterally.

He said the focus would be on ensuring cultural integration between non-lawyers and lawyers, which could make team and individual hires more appropriate.

Currently PwC offers legal services in 83 jurisdictions around the world and employs 2,500 lawyers globally.

Its decision to expand in Asia comes shortly after EY announced it owns plans to ramp up its legal capacity on the continent, having recently entered mainland China and applied for licences in Singapore and Vietnam.

Accounting firms had previously scaled back in Asia following regulatory reforms in the US which set new standards regarding external auditor independence in a bid to limit conflicts of interest.

Related: EY to build legal services arm throughout Asia