Cuatrecasas opens its office in Santiago de Chile

Cuatrecasas successfully completes the final milestone of its project to implant in Latin America, included in its Strategic Plan 2016–2020, by opening a new office in Chile. The Partners Meeting—held online this year—approved the return and appointment as partner of Chilean lawyer Cristián Conejero to head the new office in Santiago de Chile and to integrate into the firm’s management of the International Arbitration Practice at a global level. A litigation and arbitration expert, Conejero was a partner in the firm between 2007 and 2013 and has since had an extraordinarily successful career in the region. Joining him to launch the firm’s operations in Chile is partner Gianfranco Lotito, expert in litigation and corporate reorganizations.

Cuatrecasas has a strong presence in Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Brazil and over 20 years’ experience in the region. The opening of the Santiago de Chile office follows that of the office in Lima (Peru) in 2019, and the start of independent operations in Bogotá (Colombia) in January 2020.

The firm bases part of its business strategy on becoming a leading law firm in Latin America, capable of offering expert advice on its clients’ most complex matters in the main Latin American markets. With the Santiago de Chile office, Cuatrecasas enhances the advisory services it provides to the many Spanish companies operating in Chile, combines synergies with its other offices in the region and on other continents, and positions itself as the local firm of reference for projects in Chile of European and international law firms with which Cuatrecasas has strategic relationships. Cuatrecasas aims to offer Chile a service with high added value that stands out from the rest, exporting its best practices and highest international quality standards, as it has successfully done already in other jurisdictions.

On joining the firm, Cristián Conejero emphasizes the opportunities of this new project in Chile for Cuatrecasas and its clients: “This is the Ibero-American country that has received the highest foreign investment in the last decade. Spanish investment in the country covers a wide range of industries, including banking, construction, energy, infrastructures, telecommunications and tourism. And what is more important, Cuatrecasas has many clients with interests in the country and the region.”

Cristián Conejero

A lawyer of renowned prestige in Chile and throughout Latin America, he was a partner at Cuatrecasas between 2007 and 2013. He joined the firm in 2007, after working as counsel at the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris and as a lawyer at leading Chilean and international law firms. In 2013, he made a personal decision to leave the firm and return to Chile. He rejoins Cuatrecasas with the opening of the Santiago de Chile office in 2020.

He specializes in dispute resolution, with over 20 years’ experience in international arbitration. In that capacity, he has acted as lawyer and arbitrator in numerous arbitration cases in most Latin American countries and in other jurisdictions. He has also participated in commercial arbitration cases in industries such as construction, energy, investment and telecommunications, and in investment arbitration involving sovereign states.

Gianfranco Lotito

Joining the firm as a partner in the Litigation and Arbitration Practice, he specializes in judicial proceedings and national and international arbitration. He is also an expert in resolving disputes arising from purchase agreements for shares and transferable securities, business relationships, infrastructures, agencies and distribution. He has extensive experience in judicial investigations and injunctions relating to securities, free competition, corporate compliance, and in reorganizations and insolvency.