Cariola Díez Pérez-Cotapos

Cariola Díez Pérez-Cotapos (Cariola) is Chile’s leading law firm with more than 100 attorneys and a multidisciplinary team of supporting staff of approximately 250 people. As a full-service firm, Cariola Díez Pérez-Cotapos always  adds value to every client through all of the available areas of practice: general corporate; mergers and acquisitions; mining and natural resources; environmental; banking, finance, project finance and capital markets; constitutional law; regulatory law; tax; antitrust and competition; labor, social security and immigration; litigation and arbitration; white-collar and compliance; energy (hydro, solar, wind, biomass, thermal, geothermal); oil and gas; transportation and infrastructure; technology, privacy and media; hotels, resorts and casinos; aquaculture and fisheries; intellectual property; real estate and urban development; insurance; insolvency; family offices and holdings and venture capital.

Cariola is proud of being one of the top firms in Chile due to its local and international experience. The firm has been advising international and foreign large and mid-sized companies in different transactions for more than 50 years; many of those companies are still very committed as clients. The firm frequently joins international working groups in connection with acquisitions, due diligence, project work, tax planning, corporate compliance, antitrust and litigation. Cariola also outstands in advising foreign investors, foreign banks and financial institutions carrying out financial transactions and/or structuring project financing in Chile. The firm’s lawyers are accustomed to working in close co-ordination with in-house legal counsel of international corporations and international law firms.

Cariola has also created an extensive network of international contacts currently in more than 250 cities in 80 countries to provide a broader global vision. This allows our lawyers to develop an international legal practice, focusing on acquiring global skills and a disruptive mindset in which teamwork is essential for co-creating the expertise of each area.

Cariola’s lawyers are trained to be proactive in the best interest of clients, especially those based abroad. They are on top of legal and business developments and provide information on changes in the legal framework and policies, informing on the effects that these changes might have for clients and their projects.

The partners and associate lawyers of Cariola are outstanding practitioners and have gained recognition in the academic field by lecturing as professors in Chile’s most respected law schools and universities. The team are at least bilingual, and many members of the firm hold postgraduate degrees from universities in the US or Europe and have spent time abroad training at international law firms.

The firm has at least one partner in charge of an assigned case, leading a team of associate lawyers and specialized attorneys who provide the best solution across all areas of law. During a transaction, a leading partner works with the most experienced and specialized lawyers in their areas of practice, encouraging their specialty in the different areas and giving an excellent service to clients.

During the last few years, the firm’s Asia-Pacific practice has increased its presence in Asia-Pacific, especially in China, by organizing and participating in seminars and conferences in China and establishing contacts with Chinese authorities, chambers of commerce and other social and business organizations. In our client portfolio we are proud to have several Chinese companies, both state-owned and private, engaged in sectors of business such as mining, agroindustry, automotive, industrial and heavy machinery. In order to consolidate our relationship with Asian investors, our firm has created the Asia-Pacific practice through which we are prepared to conduct all the China- and Asia-Pacific-related transactions handled by our firm and to provide specialized services to our clients.

All intellectual property services are provided through our sister firm, Sargent & Krahn, which has been the top firm in this field in Chile ever since 1889. These services encompass: trademarks; patents, life sciences; utility models and industrial designs; pharmaceutical; copyrights; technology, privacy, cybersecurity and media; domain names; contracts; unfair competition and consumer protection; litigation; geographical indications; designations of origin and plant breeder’s rights.