About

Echeverria Izquierdo Montajes Industriales is one of the leading mining and industrial installation companies in Chile. It organises large engineering projects across the sector with its own engineering team as well as sourcing and supervising subcontractors. Juan Pablo Suffiotti, general counsel, leads the company’s legal department with 11 years of experience in engineering, construction projects and corporate law. The legal team provides contract negotiation and risk management analysis through its “risk matrix” review system, and cross-company evaluation and supervision of the legal elements of the firm’s projects. The team implements standard conditions for the projects, and contractors highlighting the legal risks for the firm in each bidding process, and a general standard terms of service with subcontractors to ensure high quality standards. The legal team advised on the contract negotiation of the construction of an acid treatment facility with an important national copper mining company. According to Suffiotti, ‘during the last two years we have enhanced the revision role that the legal department has, so that no document, agreement or contractual negotiation can renounce its supervision. As our company is composed mainly by engineers, a legal point of view on the risks and contingencies has turned into an essential requirement to achieve a complete approval process’. The team has been ground-breaking in its approach to engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracts that have an environmental protection focus. For example, they recently completed the construction of two Freedome geodesic domes covering two coal courts of a thermoelectric plant, the first project of this kind in Chile. This environmental focus has extended to other projects that include in their design measures to reduce particle emission, demonstrating its interest in this area. Additionally, the team has been supervising the handling of an internal restructuring process, and the inclusion of new labour laws that encourage employment of people with disabilities, and new industry workplace safety standards. Suffiotti highlighted Luis Felipe Torres, senior lawyer, as ‘the most longstanding lawyer in the company, who has participated in the legal department since its beginnings, boosting and being part of the implementation of the department processes. Apart from his experience, he participates in several legal and construction expert organisations, in order to maintain knowledge and sharing it with the rest of the team’.