General counsel and corporate compliance officer | Sacyr Chile
Legal manager, compliance officer and company secretary | Pacific Hydro Chile
General counsel | Abastecedora del Comercio (Adelco)
Legal affairs and compliance manager | Melón Cement
Vice president, corporate affairs and sustainability | WOM Chile
Corporate general counsel and institutional affairs | Banco Itaú Chile
Chief legal officer, corporate affairs and sustainability | Softys
Head of regional legal affairs, LATAM | WeWork
General counsel and secretary of the board | Enel Chile and Enel Americas
Legal division and corporate affairs manager | Empresas Hites
General counsel | CompañÃa General de Electricidad (CGE)
Legal and health, safety and environmental director | The Adecco Group
Vice president, legal and compliance, Andean market | Liberty Seguros Chile
Head of legal and compliance, Chile, Perú and Ecuador | Boehringer Ingleheim
Head of legal, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay | Atlas Renewable Energy
Lead counsel | CIFI (Corporación Interamericana de Financiamiento de Infraestructura)
General counsel (legal, environmental, compliance and human resources manager) | Tinguiririca EnergÃa
Vice president legal and compliance | Sociedad Punta de Lobos
Legal manager, CAS region | American Tower Corporation
Senior legal and compliance manager, LATAM | Mainstrean Renewable Power
Vice president, legal and corporate affairs | Claro VTR Chile
Chief legal officer and compliance officer | Grupo Sencorp
Regional legal director for the Andean cluster (Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador) | Pfizer
General counsel, sustainability and corporate affairs | Sierra Gorda SCM
Corporate manager of legal affairs and institutional relations | Cencosud
General counsel and compliance officer | Sociedad Austral de Electricidad - SAESA
Vice president of legal, corporate affairs and sustainability | CAP
Lead counsel, LATAM and general counsel, Chile | EY
It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the GC Powerlist: Chile 2023. This much-awaited release is devoted to acknowledging and commemorating the most diligent in-house lawyers in the country, highlighting some of their most remarkable feats for the year.Â
This publication presents the extraordinary contributions executed by this very select group of general counsel, heads of legal and other key in-house legal individuals, standing as proof of their adeptness, guidance, and unwavering commitment to eminence. This year’s edition showcases exceptional accomplishments by the chosen few, as they navigate the intricacies of the legal landscape in Chile, addressing challenges such as the implementation of legal tech advancements, strategizing within a fluctuating political and economic environment, expanding diversity and inclusion, ensuring effective communication across departments, and various others.Â
Within the pages of this edition, you will find detailed profiles and exclusive interviews with the most influential and respected in-house lawyers across a diverse range of industries, as they have consistently showcased their capacity to steer legal strategies, mitigate risks, and offer strategic direction to their respective companies. Their accomplishments serve as an inspiration to the legal community and exemplify the impact that in-house lawyers can have on their organisations’ business strategy and success.Â
This research brings to light several key findings, including the resilience and adaptability of legal departments during times of political uncertainty in Chile, due to present and future changes to the country’s constitution. As echoed by Pedro Pablo Cerda, director for legal and regulatory affairs at ISA Interchile, ‘this process requires that the legal and regulatory areas must make a permanent evaluation of the discussion and the constituent work, since eventually there may be effects on the regulatory model of the business.’ Legal departments will, thus, continue to focus their efforts on the potential impacts for their businesses’ framework, as ongoing discussions about a complete overhaul of the country’s constitution are likely to crawl.Â
Generally, In-house lawyers interviewed highlight the significance of embracing technology for corporate advancement. Amid the rapid pace of digital transformation, the integration of technology has proven indispensable in upholding operational continuity. In-house legal counsel interviewed underscore the persistent requirement for fostering and integrating technology to enhance efficiency, simplify workflows, and open novel avenues for enterprises. As voiced by many interviewees, echoed by Maximiliano Schmidt Gabler, general counsel at MAPFRE Chile, ‘embracing these technologies enables us to expedite our responses and enhance decision-making processes. [We are] progressively implementing technological platforms to align with the trend of legal operations.’ Technological advancements are inevitable and legal departments should embrace them and use them to maximise their efficiency as, like Tatiana Munro Cabezas, general counsel for Chile at EY, states, ‘technology should be at the service of the legal profession, and we should not be afraid of it.’Â
On a special note for this publication, the preceding year’s launch event yielded a collective of women who, galvanised by its impact, established an organisation for women in-house lawyers – Abogadas In-House – an achievement that instils in us a sense of pride, considering The Legal 500’s commitment to the cause of diversity in every jurisdiction it works in. As raised by one of its founding members, Bárbara Leighton, legal manager for Chile and Peru at Unilever, AIH ‘boasts more than 600 women members (…) [bringing] together lawyers from various industries, both national and multinational, spanning the public and private sectors, with a nationwide presence.’ Experiencing remarkable growth since its inception, this professional network ‘seeks to continuously improve the professional development of women in the legal field, particularly as in-house lawyers. Its mission is to enhance the visibility of their roles and promote their participation in leadership positions.’ As we grow our editorial efforts in Chile, this is certainly one partnership that we wish to enrich, with the objective of always securing a space where diversity and inclusion discussions can be enhanced and incentivised.Â
Numerous other pertinent subjects and unique challenges are extensively addressed in this edition, prompting us to extend an invitation for you to delve into The GC Powerlist: Chile 2023 and uncover the remarkable narratives of these outstanding individuals. By means of their experiences and perspectives, our objective is to furnish a holistic portrayal of the legal panorama in the country and underscore the priceless contributions of in-house legal departments.Â
We would like to express our gratitude to all the in-house lawyers featured in this publication for their valuable contributions and for sharing their journeys with us. I am delighted to present to you this distinguished list of Chile’s most exceptional, diligent, and celebrated in-house lawyers.Â
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Francisco Faria e Castro | Editorial lead | GC Powerlist SeriesÂ
On August 30th, The Legal 500, in partnership with Carey, proudly announced the release of the GC Powerlist: Chile 2023. The highly anticipated launch event took place at the stunning offices of Carey, located in Santiago. Attended by more than 100 individuals, the event brought together the most prominent and successful in-house lawyers in Chile, who gathered to celebrate this remarkable and thoroughly deserved achievement.
The evening began with a very warm welcome from Carey’s chairman, Jorge Carey, who’s opening address set the tone for the event, expressing enthusiasm for the return of the GC Powerlist series to Chile and its importance in recognising and honouring the most outstanding in-house lawyers in the country.
Following Jorge Carey’s speech, Francisco Castro, The Legal 500’s editorial lead for the GC Powerlist: Chile 2023, highlighted the rigorous selection process and celebrated the recipients for their significant contributions to the legal field, particularly for their spearheading of many relevant topics such as legal tech, diversity and sustainability.
After his remarks, Francisco introduced the keynote speaker for the event, Maria Paz Cerda, general counsel at AES Andes, who addressed her peers, highlighting the extraordinary achievement of being included in this select publication and how important it is for the Chilean in-house legal community to work together.
To conclude the speeches, Consuelo Mengual, legal director at Coordinador Eléctrico Nacional and co-founder of Abogadas In-House, a professional network of over 600 female in-house lawyers in Chile, tackled the issue of diversity and how important it is for the country’s legal community to focus on this, through meaningful initiatives whose goals should be to reduce the still existing gender gap in the country.
Overall, the launch event of the GC Powerlist: Chile 2023 was a grand celebration that honoured the most distinguished in-house lawyers in the country. With the great reception hosted by Carey, the event created an atmosphere of recognition and fellowship. The event successfully showcased the immense talent within the in-house counsel community and further solidified The Legal 500’s commitment to promoting and highlighting their exceptional work.
