What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?

Currently, I am responsible for all legal, contractual, and compliance matters of one of the most important infrastructure projects in Chile: the Desalinated Water System for the Northern District of Codelco, one of the largest copper mining companies in the world. Concretely, Aguas Horizonte is financing and developing, to later operate as owner, a project that includes sea water intake systems, a desalination plant, pumping stations, transmission lines and high voltage electrical substations, over 160 kilometers of pipelines, a large product water reservoir, and a distribution system that supplies said product water to Codelco’s Northern District operations (Radomiro Tomic, Chuquicamata, and Ministro Hales).

The legal management of the project is complex, demanding constant supervision and problem-solving across a wide range of areas such as project finance, environmental and permits compliance, labour, and constructive issues. Our goal is to ensure the project is delivered on time, budget, and to the highest quality standards, while effectively mitigating corporate risks.

To execute this crucial task, we have established a “contract integrated management team”, co-led by myself and the construction director. This multidisciplinary team integrates in-house expertise, such as legal counsel and planning engineers, with external resources, like consultants specializing in claims, cost control, delay analysis, contract management, and arbitration.

Notably, before starting the project development, my team and I were also involved in achieving the project’s financial close. This milestone was recognised with two prestigious industry awards: “Latin American Financing of the Year” (Latin Finance) and “Infrastructure Financing of the Year – Americas” (Project Finance International – PFI).

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

In periods of instability or crisis, I believe the key to effective legal management is collaboration. It is not only about lawyers working with lawyers in isolation but about becoming strategic partners with the company’s technical and operational areas. The only way to navigate difficult periods is to perfectly understand the business and real challenges of those who manage the operations daily. A clear example of this is the integrated management team we established for our project. It brings together engineers, planners, legal counsel, and commercial executives. This diverse group learns from one another and develops a shared understanding of the business, enabling us to align quickly and make well-rounded decisions that protect the company’s interests while keeping the project moving forward.

What is a cause, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about? Why is this?

I am fascinated by infrastructure projects because I believe they improve people’s standard of living.

This impact is even more significant when the project includes environmental or social components. For example, from an environmental perspective, desalination plants that help protect freshwater sources, or solar farms that contribute to decarbonisation, represent projects going beyond addressing technical solutions. And, from a social perspective, projects that value the profound role of the communities around the project deserve special recognition. Communities should not just live next to the infrastructure but benefit from it, whether through employment, provision of services, or broader forms of local development.

Being involved in the realisation of such projects is something I find both professionally and personally satisfying.

What factors influence your team’s decision to use external legal services versus handling matters in-house, and what criteria are used to evaluate their performance?

The factors that influence the use of external legal services have to do mainly by weighting two components: specialisation and resources, both related to personnel or time. For example, regarding specialisation, if the company must enter complex litigation requiring specific technical-legal expertise, I would opt for outsourcing legal services, supervised and supported by my in-house legal team. Likewise, regarding resources, certain matters such as the due diligence of all the company’s property rights, is something in which I prefer not to consume valuable hours of the in-house team that should be focused on attending operations daily problems and outsource it instead.

Referring to the evaluation of the performance of external services, key factors are the involvement in understanding the business, the promptness of the attention, and the flexibility of the service provider for the needs of the company, which vary depending on the areas and the times the business is going through.

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?

My team contributes mainly to create an environment of dialogue, mediation, and collaboration between the different areas to achieve what I believe is the most important thing in the company: mitigate corporate risks and ensure operational continuity. I believe that lawyers are complete professionals in terms of study, understanding, and systematisation of issues, so forming teams to bring together criteria from different areas and make decisions for the benefit of the business is something that should come naturally to us. I believe that the contract integrated management team I mentioned above is a clear example. We raise risks, we come together bringing different visions, we contrast them, we discuss them, and we achieve solutions. Win-win.