Venezuela’s combination of growing nationalizations and a fast-growing economy are boosting the demand for legal services

Venezuela’s combination of growing nationalizations and a fast-growing economy are boosting the demand for legal services. As nationalizations and business regulations grow in Venezuela, so does the demand for legal advice from foreign investors. One of the law firms that are seeing strong demand is U.S.-based Squire Sanders & Dempsey. "We expect our revenues to increase 20 percent in 2008 with respect to 2007," says Hernando Diaz-Candia, managing partner of the firm's Caracas office. During 2007 and 2008, the firm has represented foreign investors to negotiate amicable deals in six nationalization transactions completed in Venezuela in the electricity, petroleum and cement sectors. "Those have been handled as private M&A deals and have been a considerable part of our practice in the last 12 months," Diaz-Candia says. "Also, our regulatory compliance practice has been extraordinarily busy, as has been our labor-law practice and our international arbitration practice."