How do you manage legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis, and how does your legal strategy align with the overall business strategy to ensure organisational resilience? 

In my area of work, I frequently focus on internal regulatory deficiencies and legal gaps that create uncertainty when making decisions. 

I should highlight that the company where I provide professional services is engaged in the insurance sector, where my primary role involves legal analysis of claims and insurance contracts, ensuring that their drafting complies with current regulations and does not include provisions that contravene the law or public order.  

In this regard, there are cases where Bolivian regulations have not anticipated specific regulations, leading to legal gaps that create instability when legally analysing claims to decide whether a particular claim should be covered.  

Additionally, insurance contracts, which are standardised and therefore drafted by the company, often have deficiencies and inconsistencies in their wording, causing inadequate handling of cases in certain circumstances. 

As an in-house legal advisor, I address these situations by proposing a series of legal solutions tailored to each case’s specifics, usually involving internal adjustments through legal analysis and then drafting clear and precise insurance contract clauses to avoid ambiguities that might adversely affect the company’s legitimate interests. 

It is worth noting that these proposals, after being reviewed and approved by the relevant internal bodies within the company, are subsequently sent to the regulatory authority overseeing the sector to obtain the necessary approval. 

Moreover, in cases where there are doubts creating instability but not suggesting a fundamental problem, I consult jurisprudence, doctrine, and comparative legislation to propose effective legal solutions. In other instances, I suggest consulting the legal committee of the Bolivian Association of Insurers. 

Finally, when facing regulatory gaps, one of the most important substantive legal solutions is to align my legal strategy with the company’s and the insurance sector’s interests. This ensures the company’s adaptability in the market and prevents legal gaps or insufficiencies that could lead to crises or instability. 

To achieve this, I contribute to legislative initiatives within the company and the insurance sector, drafting proposed laws to address identified regulatory deficiencies, aiming for better resolution in legal analysis of claims against insurance contracts, and managing legislative processes if feasible. 

What emerging technologies do you consider will have the most significant impact on the legal profession in the near future, and how do you stay updated on these developments?  

The influence of technology on the legal profession is already underway and will increase in the coming years, presenting a significant challenge for legal professionals who do not wish to fall behind in an increasingly competitive work environment. 

For several years, many technologies have been assisting lawyers, particularly in developed countries, and these will gradually spread worldwide. 

For instance, in New York, one of the largest law firms began using Watson technology, an artificial intelligence platform, in 2016 and announced the hiring of its first robot lawyer, Ross, which assists in resolving routine cases. 

Indeed, I believe that, in the short term, tasks such as document review, legal research, and comparative legislation will be increasingly automated, thanks to artificial intelligence tools like Ross or ChatGPT, and other technologies like Modria, a software for online dispute resolution, DoNotPay, an online legal chatbot, and similar internet platforms like LegalZoo.com and RocketLawyer.com. 

In terms of technology’s impact on my area of expertise, insurance law, I maintain that new technologies will significantly impact legal professionals advising in the insurance sector in the coming years.  

It is important to highlight that technology has been used in insurance law since the 1990s with smart contracts, which have the advantage over traditional contracts of not being subject to the parties’ discretion.  

Currently, insurance contracts are being incorporated into blockchain, which will aid in claims adjustment and consequently streamline all related insurance processes.  

Another significant benefit of technology in insurance law is real-time fraud detection, which is penalised by the Bolivian Penal Code with imprisonment ranging from five to eight years. 

Although these tools will significantly aid lawyers, legislators face a huge challenge as lawmaking generally lags behind the implementation of these technologies. 

Finally, as a legal advisor, it is essential for me to stay informed about these technological changes. I keep up-to-date through postgraduate courses, seminars, reading articles in specialised journals, and leveraging technology. 

In your opinion, what are the main trends currently relevant in your country (legal, political, economic, or business)? 

In the economic realm, it is important to note that the economic boom Bolivia enjoyed in previous years due to high commodity prices has ended, and the lack of investment in exploring new gas reserves has led Bolivia to lose its main source of income. 

Additionally, poor resource management by the state, corruption, public spending, a lack of vision for consolidating industrialisation, and insufficient incentives to stimulate innovation are crucial factors explaining the economic crisis that began to show from 2023 with a shortage of dollars and fuels. 

Politically, Bolivia is currently experiencing a dictatorial regime opposed to democracy, characterised by a non-existent separation of powers, a lack of political representation in parliament, and political persecution of those who think differently from the ruling party. 

In recent months, a fierce struggle for political control between two factions of the ruling party has intensified the country’s political crisis, with a government that has abandoned democracy in favour of ruling by decree and has turned to the judiciary, which has become its appendage. 

Given the current trajectory, the trend is that the crisis will deepen over time, the price of the dollar will continue to rise, the government will likely be forced to devalue the national currency, and the state will cease to subsidise fuels. There is also an urgent need for the government to reduce public spending and state bureaucracy, which are part of the crisis, adopt a new economic policy strategy, and pursue a free-market economy that provides legal certainty for investors, eliminates monopolies, and promotes private initiative to create a globally connected country with economic development opportunities 

Politically, I believe the trend is for tensions within the ruling MAS party to increase over control of the party and the imposition of a candidate, which may lead to a definitive fracture within the party that has governed for more than eighteen years. 

On the other hand, the opposition is also fragmented, but there is widespread hope that 2025 will bring changes in the country’s political leadership, as the Plurinational State model imposed by the ruling party is severely worn out, necessitating a new state model.