PwC Legal makes a push for Asia

The Sidney partnership of PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal is to be used as a base for a push into the Asian market.

Gerard Nicolay, global chairman of PwC Legal, says that John Churchill, the firm's Australian chairman, will play a major role in the expansion. The pair will travel to a number of countries in July to set up new offices such as its Ho Chi Minh City office, which opened two months ago.

Quality control is paramount during the expansion period.

Nicolay says: "We want to have a seamless service everywhere in the world, we would never have opened an office in Ho Chi Minh City if we were not sure to have John Churchill in permanent contact with them. We want to control the quality."

Several Australian firms have failed to expand in Asia because of high costs and lack of a client base.