How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

Legal teams should be built to handle crises, much like business contingency plans are crafted to help a company navigate through challenging times. During a crisis, legal aspects often become more prominent in the hierarchy of internal company affairs. Therefore, legal teams must be pre-trained and fully prepared to rise to the occasion, helping the business manage the crisis with minimal reputational, economic, and overall legal costs.

What emerging technologies do you see as having the most significant impact on the legal profession in the near future, and how do you stay updated on these developments?  

Technology is set to become one of the most relevant elements in the legal profession in the coming years. A recent McKinsey study ranks the legal profession as one of the industries that will be most affected and transformed by the rise of artificial intelligence. AI will change the legal profession as we know it, and lawyers will need to be prepared to embrace this transformation smoothly and quickly. From enabling all company data to be accessible in a single folder for all managers, to achieving human-like interactions with this information on the spot, AI will allow legal managers to detect legal risks and contingencies and to draft specific and detailed legal documents and memoranda in a matter of seconds. This will revolutionise the legal profession, and legal managers must be open and flexible to adapt to these new technologies. Ultimately, this transformation will enhance the legal profession and minimise legal risks for companies, which should be the final goal of any legal manager’s role.

In your opinion, what are the main trends that are salient in your country currently (these can be legal, political, economy or business-based)? 

Chile’s strict adherence to the rule of law and its strong internal institutions has been the key pivot to its economic growth over the last 30 years. Although political turmoil in recent years and the ensuing internal instability have affected the country’s reputation in these areas, the fog has finally started to dissipate, revealing a nation whose foundational structure remains unchanged. With presidential elections coming next year, and the proof that the country’s fundamentals – which have been key to its regional success – remain unaffected regardless of the election turnout, the coming years should bring a spring to Chile, marking the end of a temporary but well-contained winter.