Team size: 24

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Claro VTR is the result of a joint venture that took place on October 6th, 2022. A significant portion of last year’s priorities revolved around obtaining the merger approval from the antitrust bodies in Chile, along with all the supporting work required for that purpose.

Although the complexity of obtaining a merger approval is evident, maintaining the quality and service levels on a day-to-day basis presented a tremendous challenge, especially considering the importance of legal, regulatory, and corporate affairs matters to a corporation.

The integration of both companies has posed a significant challenge to the legal and corporate affairs team. Not only did we need to provide appropriate support, but the team also had to learn how to adapt to new people, businesses, cultures, and new ways of working. This has been an incredibly enriching process for the entire team.

Furthermore, managing the risks associated with such an integration is crucial, not only in terms of formalities but also in terms of how the new company embraces sustainability from an ESG perspective. This is key to increasing the value that both companies already possess.

Lastly, we have been involved in highly complex negotiations and contracts related to technology, covering areas such as IT, Engineering, content, services, and products.

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values? Are you likely to reconsider what firms you work with based on this?

The alignment between your team and our external lawyers’ values is crucial for success; values play a leading role in fostering trust, team building and efficient execution of a strategy. I am fortunate to work with exceptional external law firms. Each team possesses a high level of technical competence and a remarkable dedication to achieving goals. Their commitment, accountability, and adherence to the highest ethical standards in the industry contribute significantly to the success of goals.

Why are in-house lawyers well-placed to drive change in their organizations?

Our role and position as risk managers and ethical gatekeepers within the organisation allow us to establish trust-based relations with our colleagues, as they rely on us to handle confidential information with utmost discretion. This responsibility grants us significant influence within the company, enabling us to drive changes and lead initiatives. In an era where trust holds immense value, being trustworthy becomes a key factor in achieving success. Our commitment to making things right aligned with your goal to uphold the highest ethical standards and ensure compliance throughout the company is a greater driver of change.

In general, what would you like to see change about the external law firms you use?

The legal and sustainability team actively participated in promoting diversity within the company, driven by the interest of having strong, resilient, and creative teams, which is reflected in the definition of an EDI Strategy. This strategy resulted in the development of a corporate policy on gender-based violence in the workplace, recognising the importance of the safety, dignity and integrity of all human beings and the need to curb the increase in cases of gender-based violence.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

It is important to have thorough knowledge of the business, be a skilled, empathetic communicator, and aid business partners in reaching their goals. By embodying these qualities, you can effectively support your business partners and contribute to their success.

If existent, can you talk about you or your company’s efforts relating to renewability, sustainability or other environmentally friendly activities?

For over 15 years, VTR has developed sustainability strategies focused on improving our environmental management and taking responsibility of our main waste impacts. Specifically, we have a solid reverse logistics program through which, by 2022, we were able to recondition around 78% of the electronic device used by our clients. We are very proud of this path that we started so many years ago and that has led us to innovate, rethink our environmental management and promote recycling among our employees, customers, and community.