Insurance giant Clyde & Co could more than double in size over the next 10 years, under ambitious expansion plans outlined by the firm's senior partner James Burns.

Speaking to Legal Week, Burns – who is approaching the second anniversary of his appointment – sets out a bullish international expansion programme targeting the Americas, Europe the Middle East and Africa.

"We've doubled in size twice in the last 10 years‎ and there is no reason why we can't do so again if we take the opportunities available to us," Burns says.

In 2005 the firm reported revenue of £104m. Its 2011 tie up with Barlow Lyde & Gilbert created a firm with revenue of £287m and in 2014-15 the firm announced revenue of £395.3m.

Burns, who spends much of his time in the firm's San Francisco office, has particularly ambitious expansion plans for its US practice. The firm already has five offices and 40 partners in the US, but has plans to further expand its footprint.

He says: "It's never easy to grow in the US but we have a model that works and gives us the platform for further expansion"

My ambition is for Clyde & Co to be the pre-eminent law firm globally in each of our chosen sectors.

Clydes has offices in New York, New Jersey and San Francisco and opened in Atlanta in 2013 and Newport Beach in 2014.

The firm's expansion strategy has focused on picking up teams of partners that suit its core practice areas of insurance, energy, infrastructure, trade & commodities and transportation.

Burns says: "When we go into a new market our model is to start by hiring the very best lawyers in one of our core sectors‎. If we can't do that then we will wait until we can."

The New Jersey office, which was launched in 2010 with the hire of six Connell Foley lawyers, was driven by a desire to serve locally based insurance clients, while its 2014 launch in Newport Beach targeted maritime and energy clients on the US West Coast.

Clydes' San Francisco office has a heavy technology focus and is particularly adept at acting on data breaches. Key mandates include acting for the insurers in connection with married dating site Ashley Madison's customer information leak in August.

Burns would not comment on the location of any new offices in the US, but confirmed they would fit in with the firm's focus on insurance, maritime and energy.

Beyond the US
The firm is also looking to expand its Canada offering, adding to its existing bases in Toronto and Montreal. The likeliest location for a new office would be Vancouver, to give the firm a Canadian West Coast base.

Looking to Latin America, Burns says that office openings in Mexico and Colombia are high on the agenda, to add to its existing bases in Caracas and Sao Paulo. He also mentions Chile as a potential future target.

In Europe Clydes currently has offices in the UK, France, Spain and Greece, but is missing a base in Europe's economic hub, Germany. The issue facing firms looking to open in Germany is choosing a location, as its decentralised economy means it has business hubs in Frankfurt, Duesselfdorf, Munich, Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg.

Burns isn't clear on which city Clydes is looking to for its first base but appears to favour Cologne or the major insurance market of Munich.

The firm is also keen to be a first mover in Iran, though as a US resident Burns himself isn't able to be involved in these plans in any way and therefore is not able to discuss them.

The country is set to open up to international trade as part of the nuclear deal agreed by Iran with China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the US and Germany in Vienna in July. The sanctions relief agreed as part of the Vienna deal is likely to take effect from early 2016, and Clydes is keen to move into Iran as soon as possible after the country opens to international trade.

All of this would follow rapid expansion in 2015, with the firm merging with 45 partner Scottish firm Simpson & Marwick in September and adding 22 lateral partners globally since June 2015, including the hire this month of energy partner Richard Devine from Baker Botts in Dubai.

In October the firm hired five partners in South Africa, and Burns hints at further African expansion for the firm.

Burns confidently predicts further growth for the firm. "My ambition is for Clyde & Co to be the pre-eminent law firm globally in each of our chosen sectors. We're not there yet but I think it's achievable within my tenure," he says.

Clyde & Co office opening timeline

2015

•Merger with Simpson & Marwick – 6 new offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Leeds

2014
• Brisbane, Australia
• Johannesburg, South Africa
• Cape Town, South Africa
• Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Associate office converted to full Clyde & Co office
• Newport Beach, USA

2013
• Atlanta, USA
• Madrid, Spain
• Beijing, China
• Melbourne, Australia
• Chongqing, China
• Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• Jakarta, Indonesia – Associate office

2012
• Sydney, Australia
• Perth, Australia
• Tripoli, Libya – Associate office
• Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia – Associate office

2011
• Merger of Clyde & Co and Barlow Lyde & Gilbert
• Toronto, Canada
• Montreal, Canada
• Manchester, UK – merger with BLG
• Oxford, UK – merger with BLG

2010
• New Jersey, USA

2009
• Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Associate office
• New Delhi, India – Associate office
• Mumbai, India – Associate office

2008
• San Francisco

2007
• Doha, Qatar

2006
• New York, USA
• Shanghai, China