Agenda

1.00pm-2:00pm Registration & lunch

2.00pm-2.05pm Opening remarks

2.05pm-2.55pm From counsel to cornerstone: rethinking legal leadership and external partnerships

The role of the General Counsel has changed permanently.

Technical excellence remains essential, but it no longer defines impact. Today’s GCs are expected to shape strategy, influence capital decisions, manage geopolitical exposure, and lead enterprise risk at board level.

This shift is forcing difficult operating choices that many legal teams are still working through in real time.

At the same time, the traditional law firm relationship is being renegotiated. Legal panels are tightening. Pricing models are under scrutiny. Expectations around technology transparency, delivery speed, and commercial judgement are rising. As AI reshapes how legal work is delivered, many legal leaders are redrawing the boundary between what must be owned internally and what can continue to be outsourced.

    • What does being a true strategic partner look like in practice?
    • Where does influence translate into real decision-making power, including budget authority and resource prioritisation?
    • How should legal departments decide which capabilities must be built internally and which should remain the domain of external counsel?
    • How do you change the perception of legal as a cost centre?
    • What makes a law firm genuinely indispensable in moments of crisis or transformation?
    • How do you retain ambitious legal talent in a market where career expectations are evolving rapidly?
    • And as the GC becomes more embedded in strategic decision making, how do you preserve the independence and credibility that give the role its authority?

Set against the realities of operating in Latin America where political volatility, complex regulatory environments, and major project exposure can intensify legal risk. This session explores how senior legal leaders are redesigning the operating model. This is not a theoretical debate.

    • Margherita Birri, research editor, Legal 500
    • Christiann A. Hudtwalcker Zegarra, general counsel, Telefónica del Perú
    • Zelma Acosta-Rubio, independent director/ former EVP, corporate affairs & legal, Interbank

2.55pm-3.30pm Dominican Republic in the Spotlight, in association with Pellerano & Herrera

The panel will examine key regulatory trends, sector-specific opportunities, and the evolving legal landscape shaping foreign and domestic investment. With insights into recent reforms, market dynamics, and practical challenges, the discussion will offer a forward-looking perspective on why the Dominican Republic continues to attract international attention and what lies ahead for companies operating in or entering the market.

    • Carolina León, partner, Pellerano & Herrera

3.30pm-3.45pm Coffee break 

3.45pm-4.15pm Ecuador – Investment’s Opportunities, in association with Flor Bustamante Pizarro & Hurtado (FBPH Law)

The Flor Bustamante’s presentation will cover the main investment opportunities in Ecuador, with a focus on energy and natural resources, as well as agribusiness, aquaculture and fisheries, and financial services. It will analyze key trends, risks and enabling conditions, highlighting the country’s untapped potential and the sectors with the greatest prospects for large-scale project development.

    • Mario Flor López, partner, Flor Bustamante Pizarro & Hurtado
    • Roque Bernardo Bustamante Espinosa, partner, Flor Bustamante Pizarro & Hurtado

4.15pm-5.05pm Panel 3, in association with Santiváñez Abogados

5.05pm-5.35pm Bolivia Spotlight

5.35pm-5.40pm Closing remarks

5.40pm-8.00pm Drinks & canapes reception