Team size: two

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved the way your compliance team works and didn’t come at a huge cost?

Having the central office in La Paz and the mining operation in the town of San Vicente, 840 km away, for practical purposes numbered pre-printed contracts were created for smaller amounts that greatly streamlined the day-to-day of our mining operation and avoid, not only the bureaucracy, but the time in the shipment.

What are some of the key developments (legal, geopolitical, or otherwise) that have affected your business over the past year?

As part of our compliance policies and the high level of relationship with the communities of influence, our participation was key so that, together with the community team, we document and seal framework agreements that guarantee joint and transparent work with the original authorities, respecting their uses and customs, in addition to a photographic sample of the actions that are carried out.

Another legal change that involved a lot of work and was reflected in a bombastic collective agreement with our workers union, was, after more than 14 years of work, going from a 6-1 on-site work system to a 14/7 scheme. It meant not only a substantial improvement in the quality of life of each of our workers and their families who gradually migrated to nearby intermediate cities, but also, being more efficient in our mineral production and better meeting their needs within the camp.

How do you think the role of the in-house lawyers will evolve in the coming years?

Having worked for many years as a lawyer, several of them being an in-house lawyer in different types of companies, today, I could conclude that internal lawyers who have the experience of having been external, but proactive external lawyers, knowing not only the client externally, but also internally, allows you to develop comprehensively, generating valuable know-how to be the internal lawyer who will not only limit himself to knowing legal issues but also adapt and be the support required by the other areas of a company, which together with good corporate governance, an effective database, applying preventive law, you will be able to manage conflicts that arise during your time in the company.

Do you use any technology products, and if so, for which areas of your work do you find them most useful?

Internally with the IT team, we have developed a contract and alert registration programme that allows us to work quickly with the different areas that manage their contracts with legal and that serve as consultation through remote access for our managements and also for our internal and external auditors, who require a digitised version and data of the contracts in each management.