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Norton Rose Fulbright is set to open in Monaco early next year, marking the latest office opening for the expansive firm.

The base, which will focus on work for shipping and finance clients, will be led by the firm's Greece head Dimitri Sofianopoulos, who will split his time between Greece and Monaco.

The office opening is the third for the firm this year, following its forays into San Francisco and Vancouver, the latter via a combination with Canadian firm Bull Housser & Tupper.

Europe, Middle East and Asia managing partner Martin Scott said: "Our shipping and finance practice is widely regarded as a global leader and, as much of its work is derived from businesses located in the principality, it makes sense for us to establish a base there from which to provide an enhanced service to our clients."

The firm will operate in Monaco as Norton Rose Fulbright Monaco SAM.

The launch will see Norton Rose Fulbright join firms including Gowling WLG, Hill Dickinson and Ince & Co on the ground in Monaco. Ince and Hill Dicks launched in the principality in  2011 and 2013 respectively, while Gowling WLG has a base there as a result of legacy firm Lawrence Graham's acquisition of Eversheds' local office in 2003.

Last month, Norton Rose Fulbright laid out plans to grow its Newcastle legal services hub, tripling the headcount to around 50 in the coming years. The firm currently employs around 15 lawyers and non-lawyers in the city as part of a pilot scheme that launched in April this year. The expectation is that the hub will become a permanent fixture, although there are not yet any definite plans on when this will happen.