Littler Mendelson Plants Flag in Venezuela

Littler Mendelson, the nation’s largest employment and labor law firm representing management, is opening an office in Caracas, Venezuela, which is the firm’s first outside the U.S. The new office will cover all areas of labor and employment law.

In a press release, Littler Mendelson said its 50^th office is designed to meet the expanding international needs of its clients.

“Latin America offers the perfect market for opening Littler’s first substantive international office,” said Marko Mrkonich, Littler’s president and managing director. “With an increasing number of global businesses investing in the market, and U.S. companies benefiting from established commercial ties between the two countries, more employers today want access to the high caliber of labor and employment law expertise that Littler is able to provide.”

The Caracas office will be led by shareholder Juan Carlos Varela, who joins Littler Mendelson from Squire Sanders & Dempsey, where he served as the head partner of its Latin American labor practice. He will be joined by Liliana Salazar and Emma Neher, prominent attorneys in the region, as well as a number of more junior associates.

“Opening our first global office in Latin America is an investment we believe will offer tremendous return when you evaluate the opportunity to enter a burgeoning market, while at the same time aligning ourselves with an attorney of Varela’s caliber,” said Lori Brown, office managing shareholder of Littler’s Miami office. “Juan Carlos brings years of experience and a stellar reputation for providing superior legal services to employers in Latin America.”

Littler Mendelson has approximately 800 lawyers at 50 offices. The firm was established in 1942 and is the largest U.S.-based law firm exclusively devoted to representing management in employment and labor law matters.