Oscar Aitken > Carey > Santiago, Chile > Lawyer Profile

Carey‘s ‘partners and associates all have excellent knowledge and expertise’. The full-service firm’s labour and employment law team is sought out by both national and international companies to advise on corporate employment matters, labour litigation and union issues. The practice comprises experts in investigations, fundamental rights, employment compliance, global mobility, expatriates, immigration, and compensation and benefits packages. It also advises on M&A-related labour due diligence, employee taxation, social security, terminations, labour auditing and subcontracting. In relation to litigation, the group routinely acts in complex contentious cases before the Labour Courts that concern wrongful dismissals, sexual harassment claims, anti-union practices and workplace-related accidents. The department is led by renowned labour law specialist Óscar Aitken, whose recent mandates cover collective bargaining agreements, internal investigations, outsourcing, terminations, benefits and compensation structures. Also key to the practice, Francisca Corti is an employment and corporate immigration law expert; Francisco Arce assists with labour litigation, union-related matters and collective bargaining, and is ‘up to date with market changes, cases and jurisprudence’; and experienced employment, labour and immigration law practitioner Valentina Kuscevic (raised to counsel in November 2023). In the firm’s associate team, Carla Karzulovic and Constanza Trisotti both maintain wide-ranging employment and labour law practices.

For certain clients, Carey‘s sizeable infrastructure and project development team is ‘undoubtedly the market leader in this practice area’. The group has extensive experience in the development, financing and execution of projects involving energy infrastructure (thermoelectric, hydroelectric, hydrocarbons, wind, photovoltaic and biomass). It also fields specialists in mining, roadways, hospitals, telecoms networks, and ports and airports, as well as concessions, and housing and hospitality services. Recent highlights include advising Aguas Pacifico on the contractual strategy and preparation of tender documents for a desalination plant. The practice group houses various experienced partners, namely: Rafael Vergara, an adviser on mining transactions in Chile; Oscar Aitken, who co-heads the firm’s construction and engineering group alongside ‘leading partner for infrastructure projects’, Juan Pablo Stitchkin; and Juan Francisco Mackenna and José Miguel Bustamante, who both advise on a range of energy and infrastructure projects. The practice further includes water rights specialist Alberto Cardemil; project finance practitioners Felipe Moro and Fernando Noriega; and José Tomás Hurley, who focuses on the development of projects involving energy and related infrastructure. The senior associate to note, Juan Pablo Vukasovic, advises on power plants, infrastructure, engineering and construction projects, and mining and fish farming complexes, as well as road, hospital and port infrastructure.