Chilean Mackenna Cruzat promotes new partner, adds lawyers, and founders become of counsels

Chilean law firm Mackenna Cruzat has announced a strategic shift as part of its generational transition, reinforcing its corporate practice and expanding its legal team to support long-term growth. In 2025, the firm launched a new phase aimed at consolidating its position in the market, enhancing productivity and efficiency, and attracting top legal talent.

As part of this new chapter, Carlos Cornejo Abarca (pictured) has been promoted to partner. Cornejo has served as a senior associate at the firm since 2019 and brings significant experience in corporate law, real estate, and litigation. Alongside his promotion, Tomás Gacitúa Grez and Isidora Valdivieso Betancourt, both graduates of Universidad de los Andes, have joined the firm, which now boasts a team of 15 lawyers.

The firm’s founding partners, Guillermo Mackenna Echaurren and Carlos Cruzat Irarrázaval, will now serve as Of Counsel, stepping back from daily operations while continuing to play a key role in strategic decision-making.

The firm is currently led by partners Aníbal Rodríguez Letelier, Gonzalo Mondaca Leal, and Magdalena Krauss Echeverría, who will oversee the firm’s organic growth and strategic modernization.

According to Rodríguez and Mondaca, the firm’s vision is to strengthen direct, personalized client service and focus on internal development, particularly in talent retention and technological modernization, including the integration of artificial intelligence into legal processes.

They emphasized that leadership transitions are one of the greatest challenges for law firms in the 21st century, requiring cultural shifts and a renewed strategic outlook—an effort Mackenna Cruzat is actively embracing.