How does your team contribute to the overall business strategy of the company? Can you share an example of a recent legal-led initiative that had a significant impact?

For me, the role of an in-house legal team has evolved far beyond providing legal advice. Our responsibility is to help the business make better decisions by identifying risks early, offering practical solutions, and creating the conditions that allow ambitious projects to move forward responsibly.

That philosophy defines how my team works every day. We see ourselves as business partners, not simply lawyers. We invest time in understanding the business, building trusted relationships, and participating in strategic discussions from the very beginning, rather than joining once decisions have already been made.

A clear example was the landmark agreement between Anglo American and Codelco to develop a Joint Mine Plan between Los Bronces and Andina. This is one of the most significant mining transactions in Chile in recent decades. More than a commercial agreement, it represents a new way of thinking about collaboration between two neighboring mining companies.

The agreement is expected to generate an estimated value uplift of approximately US$5 billion, while creating Chile’s third major mining district through the coordinated planning of two wuorld-class operations. Importantly, this value is created without changing ownership of assets or requiring major new infrastructure. Instead, it is achieved through smarter planning, operational synergies, and a shared long-term vision.

From a legal perspective, the complexity was extraordinary. We had to design innovative governance structures, balance sophisticated legal and regulatory risks with operational realities, and create mechanisms that would enable two competitors to collaborate successfully over decades while preserving each company’s independence.

What makes me particularly proud is that the legal team was not simply supporting the transaction; we helped shape it. We facilitated conversations, built trust among multiple stakeholders and contributed to developing solutions that unlocked value for both companies and for Chile.

Experiences like this reinforce my belief that lawyers create the greatest impact when they are deeply integrated into the business and measured not only by the risks they prevent, but also by the opportunities they help create. At its best, Legal is not a function that slows projects down. It is a strategic partner that helps make transformational projects possible.

Based on your experiences in the past year, are there any trends in the legal or business world that you are keeping an eye on that you think other in-house lawyers should be mindful of?

One of the biggest shifts I have observed is that collaboration is becoming one of the most valuable capabilities for in-house lawyers.

The legal and business challenges we face today are increasingly complex and interconnected. They require lawyers to work across disciplines, functions, and even organisations to build solutions that create value for everyone involved. My experience over the past year reinforced that the best outcomes are rarely achieved through adversarial approaches. They are built through trust, openness, and a genuine willingness to understand different perspectives.

This collaborative mindset will become even more important as artificial intelligence continues to transform our profession. AI will undoubtedly change how we work, automating repetitive tasks, improving efficiency, and making legal knowledge more accessible. But as technology becomes more powerful, the human capabilities that AI cannot replicate will become our greatest differentiator: judgment, empathy, creativity, negotiation and the ability to build consensus among people with different interests.

In many ways, AI will make technical expertise less scarce. What will truly distinguish exceptional in-house lawyers will be their ability to ask better questions, connect people, navigate complexity, and help organisations make better decisions.

I believe the future belongs to lawyers who can bridge legal excellence with business strategy and meaningful human relationships.

Technology will continue to evolve rapidly, but trust, collaboration and sound judgment will remain the foundations of exceptional legal leadership. To me, that is what makes the future of our profession so exciting. AI will not diminish the role of lawyers; it will elevate it, allowing us to focus even more on the work that creates the greatest value: building trust, enabling collaboration and helping organisations move forward with confidence.