Dentons announced today (16 November) that it will merge with Costa Rica-based Muñoz Global to become the second major law firm with a Central American presence. If approved by partners of both firms by the end of the year, this will give Dentons a presence in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama.
The proposed combination marks the next step in Dentons’ strategy to grow in Latin America and the Caribbean and follows the launch of Dentons López Velarde in Mexico and Dentons Cardenas & Cardenas in Colombia earlier this year.
Muñoz Global is a newly-created law firm with more than 75 lawyers specialising in corporate legal services across multiple industries, shaped from the separation of Arias & Muñoz founders Jose Antonio Muñoz and Pedro Muñoz yesterday ‘on amicable terms’ to create Muñoz Global and merge with Dentons.
The Costa Rica office will be managed by partner José Antonio Muñoz, while the Panama office will be led by Gisela Alvarez de Porras. While the leadership of the Nicaragua office is yet to be announced, the formation of it will be led by Pedro Muñoz.
Dentons said the combination would allow both firms to enhance their capabilities in key practices including banking and finance, corporate, dispute resolution and real estate.
Dentons global chief executive Elliott Portnoy (pictured) said: ‘Since our launch in Mexico and Colombia earlier this year, cross-border work into and out of the region has grown rapidly, demonstrating that clients see a great advantage to being served by a global firm.’
He added: ‘Given the interconnectedness of the economies of Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua, we see real opportunities to serve clients further through more intra-region work as well.’
Meanwhile Dentons’ European arm has also been focused on extending its reach of late, expanding its presence in Italy through two new offices in the last 12 months in Milan and Rome.
georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk
