Koltai will join the firm in early 2012 from Blake Dawson's Sydney office.

Koltai has experience advising on major domestic and international corporations, sovereign wealth funds, foreign pension funds, domestic and foreign private investors, institutional funds, funds investors and investment managers, with a particular focus on cross-border real estate transactions.

Alastair Da Costa, the managing director of DLA's Asia Pacific, Middle East and emerging markets practice, said Koltai's practice "closely aligns" with the strategic direction of the Asia Pacific real estate group.

This latest appointment follows the recent announcement that Ashurst's former head of European real estate, Simon Cookson, will join DLA later this year as London head of real estate.