Pinsent Masons has said the “only global law firm serving Northern Ireland just got more global” as it announced plans to expand into South Africa with a new office in Johannesburg.

Rob Morson and Shane Voigt, who join from Bowman Gilfillan, have been appointed founding partners of the new office.

Mr Morson was head of construction at Bowman Gilfillan and Mr Voigt was a dispute partner in the infrastructure sector.

Further partner appointments are expected before the firm formally opens its doors in early 2017.

The South Africa presence will be fully-integrated into the wider firm. It will be the second new international office to be launched by Pinsent Masons this calendar year following its launch in Dusseldorf, and brings the firm’s total number of offices to 22.

Richard Foley, senior partner at Pinsent Masons, said: “Africa is a fast-growing market with clear infrastructure need. It’s a market where we are already doing significant business for Chinese organisations, European contractors, investors and funds.

“Having an on-the-ground presence in Johannesburg, led by a team with a market-leading reputation will enable us to scale the existing practice significantly.

“We will focus on infrastructure initially – and particularly projects in the energy, IT, Telecoms and transport arena. It takes us a further step toward our vision of being recognised as an international market leader in the global sectors upon which we focus.

“We said at the turn of the year that we would continue to invest to stay relevant and this is proof of our commitment.”