How to hire a lawyer in Chile

Felipe Lavín Venegas
 
How to hire an attorney in Chile?
 
Hiring a lawyer for an overseas case or transaction can be a burdensome challenge. When it comes to Chile, fortunately there’s an elite group in the country, fully conversant in English. Many of these attorneys have worked in the United States, UK, Australia, or Canada. There is also a smaller group who is fluent in German, French and Portuguese.
 
The following are the largest law firms in Chile (we omit boutique law firms because the list is too long). Most of them are “full-service” and have partners who can speak English and are accustomed to dealing with foreign clients. However, only few of them are actually able to draft from scratch a contract in English.
 
Largest firms (in alphabetical order):
 
– Aninat Schwencke & Cia
 
– Baker & McKenzie
 
– Barros & Errázuriz
 
– Bofill Mir & Alvarez Jana
 
– Carey & Allende
 
– Carey
 
– Cariola Diez Perez-Cotapos
 
– Claro & Cia
 
– Guerrero Olivos
 
– Morales & Besa
 
– Philippi
 
– Prieto y Cia
 
At Idealis, the first company to launch a legal recruitment service in Latin America, we have interviewed many lawyers over the past years. To find a competent lawyer, I would suggest you refer to the list of finalists published in Leading Lawyers Ranking Chile, a peer driven survey conducted in Chile.