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Saying that Glencore Chile’s legal department has had successful few years is an understatement, considering the sheer scope and amount of transactional work completed by its lawyers. Successful negotiations of union contracts, renegotiations of major supply contracts, the granting of key environmental permits at Altonorte and reinforcement of best compliance practices across the group are just some examples of the team’s extensive and wide-reaching work. Equally impressive have been the team’s internal improvements, which have contributed to its ability to handle increasing regulatory challenges in environmental permits. The team incorporated two new positions to its structure, the first being a senior lawyer at the operations to strengthen the legal services provided directly at the operational sites. ‘With this change, we have now 50% of our legal team working full time in the operations (Lomas Bayas and Altonorte),’ shares legal and compliance manager Carlos Prat. The second addition involves an expert in environmental assessment with no previous legal background, whose incorporation, nevertheless, has been key to improving the team’s performance in this extremely crucial company field. The superior performance of the legal team at Glencore Chile in recent years is easy to understand when you consider some of the talent within it. Its leader, Carlos Prat Guarachi, who already featured in the GC Powerlist series is an exceptional, highly experienced lawyer widely praised for his achievements during his career at both Glencore and Xstrata. Veronica Baraona, who joined the company in 2011 has been extremely important with her support to compliance issues at the company’s Santiago office and operations. Lorena Barraza has been praised for her implementation of changes related to the new labour code at the company. ‘She was part of the negotiation team that successfully agreed the last Union Contract with Lomas Bayas’ Union under the new rules,’ says Prat. Last but not least, Andres Bruna has been praised for his experience in litigation, which has according to Prat ‘strengthened the capacity of the team in dispute resolution issues’.