As competition among offshore law firms continues to intensify, British Virgin Islands-based O’Neal Webster has opened a New York City office—a rare step for an offshore firm.

The large, long-dominant players in the BVI—Harneys, Appleby, and Conyers Dill & Pearman—have global networks and may dispatch lawyers to meet and greet clients in the Big Apple, but none of them has an official branch anywhere in the U.S.