Irish stay-at-homes look east

As the internationalisation of the legal services sector continues apace, one country stands alone in housing only domestic firms - Ireland.

Which is not to say that Ireland's legal sector is insular. Far from it, in fact, with Dublin's leading firms focusing ever-increasing amounts of attention on international clients.

For Mason Hayes & Curran, the international push is stepping up a gear, with one partner - a Mandarin-speaking Irishman, no less - set to do a six-month stint with Chinese firm King & Wood.

Don't expect the firm to start opening offices and forming alliances in a variety of far-flung locations, though. Longstanding managing partner Declan Moylan, who takes over as chairman in April, has identified Russia, Ukraine, China and India as key regions for the firm to win work in and is due to visit Russia himself in the coming weeks. Further secondments could follow, but for now the Irish firm is remaining firmly rooted in Ireland.