Dentons has taken over Norton Rose Fulbright's office in Venezuela to launch its first operation in the country.

The office, in the country's capital Caracas, has eight partners and 18 lawyers, and has been a part of Norton Rose since 2012.

Although the incorporation of the new office into Denton's verein structure still requires a global partner vote, due to take place in the next few weeks, a spokesperson for the firm said these are usually approved and was not aware of any that have ever been rejected.

The office will be number 22 for Dentons in Latin America, having only opened its first offices in Bogota and Mexico City in 2016.

Dentons global chairman Joe Andrew said: "Three years ago we didn't have a single office in Latin America or the Carribean. Baker McKenzie had a 55- to 60-year head-start on us, DLA Piper had a 30-year head-start, Hogan Lovells had 20 years. There was a lot of scepticism when we said we wanted to be the first truly pan-Latin American and Caribbean firm. Today, we have tripled the number of offices of our closest competitor."

Norton Rose gave a more downbeat assessment of the change. Explaining the firm's reasons for leaving the country, chief executive Peter Martyr said: "Market conditions in Venezuela have been challenging for some time. Therefore, we have reached a mutual agreement with our Caracas partners that Norton Rose Fulbright will no longer maintain a local market presence in Venezuela. We wish them well."

Dentons Latin America CEO Jorge Alers responded by saying: "This office was very, very successful for Norton Rose. They were not asked to leave by any stretch of the imagination, and they elected to join us for their own reasons."

According to Alers, the success of former Norton Rose colleagues in Bogota who left the firm to join Dentons last year "demonstrated to them how they could succeed in Denton's model, and I assume that it was an important factor in their decision".