Esteban Ovalle

Practice Areas

Arbitration (Counsel and Arbitrator) and Litigation.

Career

Esteban Ovalle, partner at Ovalle Abogados, is a highly regarded litigator and arbitrator with over 33 years of experience. He advises and represents major Chilean and international companies – including Codelco, Teck, AES, Vinci Construction Grands Projets, Parque Arauco, Grupo Vidaurri, and Sacyr – in their most complex and high-stakes disputes. Many of these clients have relied on Esteban for more than a decade, entrusting him with their most sensitive cases without the backing of a large law firm. His practice spans high-profile litigation and arbitration in construction, energy, corporate, civil liability, and commercial disputes.

Before founding Ovalle Abogados, Esteban was a main partner in one of Carey’s two litigation and arbitration teams, where he built lasting professional relationships and longstanding rivalries with some of the country’s most prominent litigators. Today, he frequently faces top-tier firms such as Jana & Gil, Claro & Cía., and Bulnes Urrutia & Bustamante in major disputes, including one of the most significant cases involving the expansion of Santiago’s International Airport.

In addition to his work as counsel, Esteban is a respected arbitrator of the Santiago Chamber of Commerce Arbitration and Mediation Center (CAM Santiago). He has been appointed in seven complex arbitration proceedings in recent years, covering real estate, construction, maritime, and commercial disputes, with the participation of leading firms such as Barros & Errázuriz, Clyde & Co, Villarroel Lecaros & Aste, and Urenda & Cía., among others.

He studied law at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (1991) and holds a Master’s in Tax Management from Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (2003). Esteban has also been a professor at Universidad Diego Portales and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He is fluent in Spanish and English.

Languages Spoken

Spanish (native) and English.

Education