Legal trends and hot topics in Chile

As is evident from the breadth and depth of our research into this market, Chile continues to feature among the most relevant markets in Latin America in general, and for Chambers’ research in particular.  

We, therefore, concluded that our guide launch would not be complete without sharing with the market what we have been seeing over the last 12 months in Chile. 

The hot topic that everyone is talking about in Chile at the moment is, of course, the drafting of the country’s new constitution.   

This process started in the wake of the social unrest at the end of 2019, known locally as the “Estallido Social”.  

Such protests shook the Chilean people, not to mention the legal market. Responding to the public demand for change, expressed most acutely in the majority of votes in favour of redrafting the constitution, a Constituent Assembly was elected to replace the country’s Pinochet-era constitution.  

It is worth noting that the constitution had been updated since then, but the clamour was clearly for more fundamental change than had been delivered previously.   

For law firms, this meant that those specialised in public law have found themselves busier than usual, rendering advice on the Constituent Assembly’s approach to different issues such as mining, the environment, or the rights of indigenous communities in Chile.  

Naturally, a particular flashpoint for public lawyers was the publication of the draft proposal for the new constitution, particularly given the length of the draft itself.  

The next flashpoint is almost upon us, with the obligatory popular vote on 4 September 2022 either to approve or reject the Constituent Assembly’s proposal for a new constitution.

This is particularly relevant because, whilst no one can predict the future, polling suggests that the current proposal would indeed be rejected. We will be watching developments very closely over the next research cycle, which begins the day after the vote to confirm or reject the new constitution. 

Public lawyers in Chile have not been the only lawyers who have seen their upstream grow over the last few months. Those involved in transactional work, particularly M&A, have also had a solid year.  

As a result of the uncertainty caused by the significant changes to the Chilean constitution and the preceding social unrest, investment flows in Chile have changed.  

The change seems to be coming from large local investors, who have generated an increase in outbound work. This has often taken the form of Chilean investors, wishing to remove their capital from Chile, investing in real estate abroad, particularly in Miami. 

Having said this, we must not overstate this argument.  

There is still plenty of interest in Chile. With its currency down against the dollar, Chilean assets are more attractive to foreign investors, particularly for the less risk-averse players. 

As a related prediction, firms told us that they expect to see an increase in infrastructure matters, as well as a significant uptick in contentious matters involving the Chilean state. This is very much in line with the public law trends outlined earlier.