Hogan Lovells is looking at forming an association with a Chinese firm in the Shanghai free-trade zone (FTZ), according to Asia-Pacific managing partner Patrick Sherrington.

"China is a key market for us. We have certainly been considering the possibility of a permitted association in the Shanghai FTZ," says Sherrington, who also heads up the firm's Middle East operations. "That is something under active consideration at the moment."

The Shanghai FTZ is the first Hong Kong-like trade area in mainland China. It was launched in 2013 with the aim of testing liberalisation of the Chinese market in key areas such as telecoms, financial and legal.

If Hogan Lovells is successful, it would be the second firm to obtain a licence from Chinese regulators to establish a joint operation to practice local law in the area.

Baker & McKenzie was the first to strike such a deal, entering into an association with FenXun Partners in April last year. The agreement is not exclusive and the two firms remain structurally separate.

However, international law firms have long faced restrictions in China. Foreign lawyers are prohibited from practicing Chinese law and appearing in the local courts, and the same applies to any Chinese lawyer hires at international firms.

Hogan Lovells first entered China more than 20 years ago, launching an office first in Beijing in the early 1990s and nearly a decade later, one in Shanghai. Overall, it has 55 partners in Asia and 61 in the Asia-Pacific region.

Other firms that have expressed an interest in working with a local firm in the Shanghai FTZ include Linklaters, Herbert Smith Freehills, Simmons & Simmons and Dechert.

Another priority on Sherrington's list is to boost partner numbers in the firm's recently launched offices in Australia. Hogan Lovells launched two offices in Australia in July last year – in Perth and Sydney.

The firm, which opened initially with four partners, now has six spread across the two offices. The corporate finance-focused practice is set to grow to 10 or 12 partners, with up to five partners being hired during the next year, Sherrington says.

He explains that the firm's strategy has always been to target the Australian side of multinational transactions rather than trying to compete domestically. "We certainly see ourselves as competing with the Australian firms on both inbound and outbound cross-border transactions with an Australian end, but we are not seeking to be a full-service Australian domestic law firm."

The firm is also looking to build out in corporate more widely in the Asia-Pacific region, to service international clients by focusing on areas of existing strength including education and healthcare.

Examples of recent corporate lateral hires include, in May, the recruitment of DLA Piper's Asia US capital markets head Stephen Peeples and Paul Hastings' IPO specialist Sammy Li – both in Hong Kong. In March, the firm hired M&A partner Lisa Yano from Morgan Lewis & Bockius in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Sherrington says "further developments" are on the way for Singapore including partner relocations and lawyer hires, but declines to comment further.

Last month, Hogan Lovells was hit by the departure of a trio of energy and project finance partners from its Singapore branch. In late July, it emerged the firm's Asia head of infrastructure, energy, resources and projects, James Harris, was set to join Jones Day along with fellow partners Alex Cull and Bruce Schulberg in Singapore.

"James Harris was due to go to Australia. He changed his mind at the last moment, which was a surprise to us," says Sherrington. "That then got Bruce Schulberg to move, which made Alex Cull feel exposed and he decided to go as well."

He adds that "despite assurances", a handful of Singapore associates are following the partners. Declining to comment on the exact number, he insists the firm will still have a strong practice in the region, with a group of "bright young lawyers".

In response to the exits, the firm is set to relocate the managing partner of its Ho Chi Minh office in Vietnam, Samantha Campbell, to Singapore.

Sherrington says he is "confident" about the remaining Singapore team and says the firm has the "wherewithal to strengthen it as we need to".

Former partners offer mixed feedback on the firm's Asia strategy, with one commenting that the recent exits in Singapore are not "much of a blow". The ex-partner adds: "The remaining partners are really good quality. My view is that the Singapore office has come on leaps and bounds, it's really energised. The guys they lost were really very senior; they weren't the firm of tomorrow."

However, others remain unconvinced by the firm's attempts to raise its corporate profile in the region. A second ex-partner says: "The biggest issue that dominated the firm when I was there in Asia is that they didn't have a credible corporate practice. What they lacked was either a sort of FTSE 500-type client base or any real private equity clients."

Sherrington responds: "While I respect the view, I regard it as a very insular way of assessing the breadth and depth of a global corporate practice." He adds that the firm has an "increasingly forceful corporate presence and capability in Asia".

It remains to be seen whether Sherrington will realise his ambitions. For now, he has his work cut out if he is serious about seizing opportunities in China, competing in Australia, reviving Singapore and taking the Asia corporate practice to the next level.