Chile 2022

The Legal 500 has been analysing the capabilities of law firms around the world for 35 years. Over the course of the last decade, we have expanded our legal analysis to include corporate counsel–again on a global scale–as reflected in our GC Powerlist series, which identifies the leading corporate counsel in more than 150 jurisdictions.

As lead researcher for The Legal 500’s Chile GC Powerlist 2022, it is my pleasure to introduce this extensive edition of the GC Powerlist series. Rarely have we conducted so many interviews with the leading in-house legal minds of a country while investigating; it was a privilege to be able to speak with the lawyers contained within these pages about opportunities and challenges they face now and in the future. Some examples of these enervating discussions are below.

In common with their contemporaries around the world, Chile-based GCs have endured a highly uncertain past two years. As Alberto Vergara, director of litigation at Scotiabank Chile reflects, ‘the Covid-19 pandemic made the changes and challenges that we were already facing even more dramatic, urgent, and exponential. Legal counsel, especially in-house ones, had to adopt overnight ways of working that we previously would have considered counterintuitive’. He views the agility that he and his in-house legal colleagues showed in adapting to the pandemic’s new requirements in order to continue effectively serving their organisations as a point of pride: ‘We as legal counsel were crucial in order to provide the legal advice required to adapt to the new circumstances, putting aside our established wisdom and old ways of working. We should be proud of the outcome.’

Anastassia Fagetti Arenas, legal manager, data protection officer and human rights correspondent for L’Oreal Chile summed up the huge value that top-quality in-house counsel can give to an organisation, with a fitting tribute to her contemporaries: ‘With our ability to anticipate changes in an increasingly volatile, complex, uncertain and ambiguous world, having a position in legal matters allows us to evaluate the most suitable solutions proactively and take a more active role in the face of different changes or challenges. This ability to accelerate our legal vision allows us to protect the organisation’s reputation and ourselves against possible impacts on the company, our stakeholders, and shareholders.’

I am extremely pleased to present this list of the most successful, agile and innovative in-house lawyers in Chile.

Yoonsong Choi | Lead Research Analyst | GC Powerlist Chile 2022

The Legal 500 has kindly invited Carey to host the fourth edition of the GC Powerlist Chile, which recognises the most influential and innovative general counsel of Chile. In order to identify the top general counsel in the country, The Legal 500 conducted independent research, which includes in-depth consultations with important members of the Chilean legal community, with a particular emphasis on those general counsel that promote effective team collaboration.

Carey warmly congratulates those who have been recognised, including those with whom we have shared professional experiences that have enabled us to appreciate first hand their leadership and effectiveness.

Although Chile is experiencing tumultuous times, including the drafting of a new constitution which will be approved or rejected through a referendum in September, the legal community in Chile widely believes that our democratic traditions, our solid institutions, a general absence of corruption and a respect for the rule of law will ultimately allow our country to continue prospering and maintain its position as one of the leading nations in Latin America.

Carey reiterates its belief that the general counsel recognised by The Legal 500 have played, and will continue to play, an important role in maintaining Chile’s high ethical and political standards. We view them as legal lighthouses which guide the corporations they serve, preventing them from making decisions that might lead them to dangerous waters. As Chile’s largest law firm, Carey, of course, shares this task.

We also share many of the same values and beliefs with this group of prestigious general counsels. Building a strong and positive culture in a law firm is not an easy task and requires continual work and reflection. We at Carey appreciate the leadership and inspiration that the lawyers recognised by The Legal 500 this year provide to the entire legal community.

Thank you to The Legal 500 for this invitation and, once again, congratulations to the general counsel selected for their outstanding work.

Jorge Carey | Chairman | Carey

GC Summit Romania 2023

“It was a sensational event”, is how one attendee described the first GC Summit to be held by The Legal 500 in Romania on March 23 at The Grand Hotel, Bucharest.

GC Summit Romania marked a new milestone in the production of summits for in-house counsel at an international level. The agenda was not focused on the daily legal issues that in-house counsel experience, but on the aspirations of corporate lawyers to evolve from lawyers to become board members or even C-level executives within their companies.

Gone are the stereotypes of in-house counsel focused only on the legal aspects of their work. Today, corporate lawyers have a broad base of experience in navigating both legal and commercial situations, which positions them with strengths over other, more traditional, executives.

The first session of the day discussed the future of legal services and how innovation enables corporate lawyers and law firms to navigate the so-called digital economy successfully. It was moderated by Cornel Popa, partner at Tuca Zbârcea & Asociatii, who presented the experiences and opinions of the panellists on the challenges they face when it comes to the adoption of AI, cybersecurity, and the modernisation of compliance systems for more sustainable corporate development.

This was followed by a second discussion panel, which covered the criteria that in-house counsel use to contract the services of external law firms. This panel discussion, moderated by Roxana Ionescu, co-head of data protection and head of environment practices at NNDKP, covered balancing the cost of resolving legal matters alongside other factors, such as the time it takes to resolve the issues, as well as how to take advantage of specific scenarios during legal procedures.

One of the topics that most caught the attention of the attendees was the fireside chat looking at the transition from GC to Board Member. The topic was moderated by Simon Dayes, partner at Dentons and gave the audience a reasonably accurate idea of the qualities that a GC should aspire to, the challenges in-house counsel face when aiming to transition to Board Member and opening up possibilities in a market famous for fierce competition between corporate lawyers and C-level executives.

The third discussion panel, moderated by Mihai Mares, founding partner at Mares & Mares, which, together with the panellists Alina Arsene, general counsel at Interbrands Orbico, Oleg Roibu, general counsel at eMAG Group and Bianca Vlad, general counsel at CORA gave a spirited discussion on how to act in the face of an administrative crisis. It also addressed successful examples of risk management, as well as how short, medium, and long-term strategies can make the difference between success and failure.

The fourth-panel discussion, moderated by Sebastian Guțiu, managing partner at Schoenherr, focused on the changing role of the GC and how to strike the right balance between legal counsel and leadership roles. Attendees learned about why leadership, combined with proper business strategies and knowledge of commercial law, can make the difference between an everyday regular administrative/corporate decision and a great business and corporate growth strategy to achieve recognition as an irreplaceable force within the productive apparatus of the company that in-house counsel represent today.

The discussion closed with an intense debate on ESG, moderated by Horia Draghici, partner at CMS. The panel discussed, in part, how the inclusion of ESG on the corporate agenda of companies was necessary in order to be equipped to act swiftly to mitigate environmental difficulties, both locally and internationally.

The event ended with a networking session, where attendees met new colleagues to further strengthen the professional bond between acquaintances.

On behalf of The Legal 500 team, we want to thank our sponsors and the entire in-house community of Romania that joined us. We will return in 2024 with a new edition of GC Summit Romania and more topics of interest for our in-house community!

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Name

Industries

Powerlist

Adolfo Tocornal

Agustin Fracchia

Alan Moya Dupre

Alberto Vergara

Alejandra Urenda Silva

Alejandro Celedón Raveau

Alejandro Palma Rioseco

Alejandro Rubilar

Alfonso Izquierdo Parada

Alicia Undurraga Pellegrini

Anastassia Fagetti Arenas

Andrea Convalia

Andrea Fraga

Andrés Curia

Andrés Eyzaguirre

Andrés Parker

Andrés Pérez Núñez

Andrés Winter

Bárbara Leighton

Camila Andrea Álvarez Rojas

Carlos Prat

Carolina Carrasco

Carolina Orrego Ceballos

Carolina Oyarzún Barrera

Caroline Lüders

Catalina Achermann

Claudia Farjat

Claudia Gonzalez Montt

Constanza Valle

Cristián Ceballos Argo

Cristián de la Cruz

Cristián Venegas-Puga G.

Cristóbal Quezada Ruiz

Cristóbal Somarriva Quezada

Dafne González

Daniel Lorenzini

Diego Brieba Vial

Diego Corp Hoces de la Guardia

Diego Peró

Domingo Valdés

Duncan Grob

Eduardo Diez R.

Eduardo Poehls

Eduardo Rodríguez

Eduardo Tagle Gana

Elena Yubero Gonçalves

Eric Rees

Felipe Barrera Orellana

Felipe Corvalán

Felipe Frias

Felipe Leigh

Felipe Merino

Felipe Olivares Mercado

Felipe Ulloa

Felipe Zaldívar

Fernando Carmash

Fernando Eyzaguirre

Fernando Moyano

Fernando Valdés

Francisca Celedón

Francisca Larraín

Francisca Miranda

Francisco Vial

Gisela Candurra

Gonzalo Montoya

Gonzalo Novoa

Gonzalo Paredes Saieg

Gonzalo Smith

Guillermo Herrera

Hector Herrera

Hernán Felipe Velasco Viveros

Hernán Torres Aguirre

Horacio Aránguiz

Ignacio Aránguiz Pinto

Ignacio Díaz

Ignacio Manuel Liberman Yaconi