Biography: Mining

José Antonio Urrutia heads the firm's natural resources law practice. He has extensive practice in environmental and health law in the context of regulatory compliance and all the legal issues related with business transactions and projects developments. He has been the lead attorney for several multimillion-dollar investment projects in the areas of forestry, mining, electricity, and oil and gas. He has played a key role as adviser to multinational gas, power and mining companies in creating the legal support for gas, power and mining integration between Chile and Argentina. He has been a lead attorney on several transnational gas pipeline projects, and acted on behalf of a major multinational mining company in the negotiations of the Mining Integration Treaty with Argentina, and of the first Implementing Protocol.

Before joining the firm, he worked with the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, DC. In 1993, he advised the environmental committee of the Chilean Senate on the approval of the Environmental Framework Law passed in 1994, and since then has participated in the discussion of its proposed amendments.

Mr Urrutia has served as a featured speaker at numerous environmental law conferences and has written widely in the environmental area. Since 1993 he has served as an adjunct professor of environmental law at the University of Chile's Law School, becoming the first professor of environmental law in Santiago.

Mr Urrutia received the JD equivalent from the University of Chile in 1986 and was admitted in 1987. He obtained his LLM from the Washington College of Law, American University, receiving the Seymour Rubin Award for graduating top of his class. He is member of the Chilean Bar Association, the Inter-American Bar Association, the environmental law group of the American Society of International Law and the Chilean Association of Environmental Lawyers.

Biography: Environment

Jose Antonio Urrutia is the firm's managing partner and heads the firm's natural resources law practice. He has been the lead attorney for several multimillion-dollar investment projects in the areas of forestry, mining, electricity, and oil and gas. He has also participated in several project-financing processes. Before joining the firm, he worked with the Environmental Law Institute in Washington DC. He was part of the legal team hired by the government of Argentina for the privatisation of its largest oil and gas company, YPF. In 1993, he advised the Environmental Committee of the Chilean Senate on the approval of the Environmental Framework Law passed in 1994, and since then has participated in the discussion of its proposed amendments.

He has played a key role as adviser to multinational gas, power and mining companies in creating the legal support for gas, power and mining integration between Chile and Argentina. He has been a lead attorney on several transnational gas pipeline projects, and acted on behalf of a major multinational mining company in the negotiations of the Mining Integration Treaty with Argentina, and of the first Implementing Protocol, which was approved in mid-2004.

Mr Urrutia has served as a featured speaker at numerous environmental law conferences and has written widely in the environmental area. Since 1993 he has served as an adjunct professor of environmental law at the University of Chile's Law School, becoming the first professor of environmental law in Santiago.

Mr Urrutia received the JD equivalent from the University of Chile in 1986 and was admitted in 1987. He obtained his LLM from the Washington College of Law, American University, receiving the Seymour Rubin Award for graduating top of his class. He is member of the Chilean Bar Association, the Inter-American Bar Association, the Environmental Law Group of the American Society of International Law and the Chilean Association of Environmental Lawyers.