Cecilia Urbina > Vergara Galindo Correa Abogados > Santiago, Chile > Lawyer Profile

Vergara Galindo Correa Abogados
BADAJOZ NO 45, 8TH FLOOR
LAS CONDES
SANTIAGO
Chile
Cecilia Urbina photo

Position

Partner

Career

Lawyer, Universidad de Chile.  Msc. Environmental Policy and Regulation, The London School of Economics and Political Science (London, United Kingdom).  Diploma in Environmental Law from the Universidad de Chile.  Environmental Law Master´s Program, Universidad de Chile.

Cecilia joined VGC Abogados in 2012.  She has been a partner since 2013.

She began her career in the National Environmental Commission (CONAMA) moving to the Superintendence of Health Services (SISS) and subsequently to the recently created Superintendence of the Environment (SMA) where she was the first head of the Compliance and Sanction Division.  In this role she contributed to the development and implementation of effective control and sanction mechanisms and the formation of internal skills to apply them.

She participates as a guest professor in undergraduate and postgraduate courses in various universities in the country.

Her professional excellence has led her to be distinguished by her peers as Best Lawyer in the environmental category and by clients in Band 2 of Chambers and Partners in the same category. The Legal 500, in turn, recognizes her as a “compliance specialist”.

She is a member of the Chilean Bar Association.

Lawyer Rankings

Chile > Environment

(Leading individuals)

Cecilia UrbinaVergara Galindo Correa Abogados

Vergara Galindo Correa Abogados‘ sizeable environmental and regulatory department comprises specialists in the environmental assessment of natural resources projects (predominantly mining and water) of all sizes. It also assists with obtaining the authorisations and permits required for the development, construction and operation of such projects, as well as advising on compliance issues. On the contentious front, the team regularly litigates in constitutional, administrative, civil and criminal law disputes. The team inclcudes several partners with past-public sector experience: Mario Galindo‘s career includes 10 years as a litigator at National Environmental Commission (CONAMA); Javier Vergara is a former CONAMA (Metropolitan Region) technical secretary, prosecutor and director; and Cecilia Urbina‘s curriculum includes being the first compliance and sanction division head at the Superintendence of the Environment (SMA). The team also includes highly-rated environmental law specialist José Luis Fuenzalida, while current litigation department head Ignacio Mujica (raised to partner in December 2022) acts in environmental damage litigation claims. At director level, Francisca Olivares routinely assists with obtaining projects’ environmental approvals and the processing of environmental and sectoral permits; and Elena Fischman focuses on environmental compliance and risks. Associate Josefa Conget acts in environmental and administrative litigation, but former senior Paula Gajardo left the firm in May 2022.