Dentons optimistic of Venezuela recovery as it sets up shop in Caracas

Global law firm Dentons has announced plans to enter Venezuela, and is optimistic the country will recover from its current economic and political crisis.

“We have been following and continue to follow the events in Venezuela very closely,” Jorge Alers, Dentons’ CEO for Latin America and the Caribbean, told The Latin American Lawyer.

“Our decision to build a presence in Caracas was driven by the long-term business opportunities we saw in the country. While Venezuela has challenges, it has the greatest oil reserves in the world, and we are optimistic that the political and economic situation will improve, and that it will again become one of the most dynamic economies in the region,” he added.

The law firm, the world’s largest by number of lawyers and which has a presence in 79 countries, plans to combine operations with the former Venezuela practice of Norton Rose Fulbright, known as Despacho de Abogados miembros de Dentons, to begin operations in the South American country, as part of the law firm’s  growth strategy in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“The quality of the lawyers in the office in Caracas will ensure that we can continue to provide high-quality legal support to clients in Venezuela and around the globe,” Alers said.

“This combination will allow us to continue our unprecedented, rapid growth in Latin America and the Caribbean with elite firms across a broad spectrum of practice areas,” he added.


The move comes as the political and economic crisis in Venezuela deepens, with the head of the country’s opposition-controlled congress, Juan Guaidó, having this week proclaimed himself interim president, a move recognised by countries including the US, Canada, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia, as well as the European Union and the Organisation of American States.

In retaliation to US support for Guaidó’s declaration, President Nicolás Maduro on Wednesday announced the severing of diplomatic ties with the US, ordering all of Washington’s diplomatic personnel to leave the country within 72 hours. 

That order was defied by US secretary of state Mike Pompeo however, who stated that US diplomatic staff will remain in Venezuela and labelled Maduro’s government “illegitimate”.



Russia, China and Turkey have expressed their support for Maduro, who was sworn-in for a second six-year term earlier this month after claiming victory in elections last May, an electoral process that has been criticised as fraudulent. 



“Venezuela is a strategic jurisdiction in Latin America, considering, among other aspects, its place as one of the world’s largest oil producers, and its aim at diversifying its economy by fostering sectors other than hydrocarbons,” according to the firm’s global CEO Elliot Portnoy.

“We are growing faster in Latin America and the Caribbean, and with truly high-quality firms, as no one has ever done before,” he said.

Despacho de Abogados miembros de Dentons operates in the practice areas of energy and natural resources, corporate, labour and employment, litigation and dispute resolution, as well as banking and finance, tax and public law.



The firm will join as a new member of the group of law firms after a vote among the partners as part of the Latin America and the Caribbean region of Dentons, that encompasses Brazil, the Caribbean, Central America, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.