Alumni and Legal Professionals Meeting: Connecting Trajectories 2024
On Thursday, November 21, the Heidelberg Center for Latin America (HCLA) hosted a gathering that brought together law graduates from Heidelberg University and professionals in the field. The event, supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), aimed to strengthen ties among generations of graduates in Chile and to foster academic and professional exchange among them.
Under the title "Connecting Trajectories 2024," the event was divided into two parts. It began with the panel "Procedural Trends in Commercial Arbitration: Perspectives from Europe and Latin America," held in collaboration with the Santiago Arbitration and Mediation Center (CAM Santiago), with which the HCLA has maintained a cooperation agreement since 2022. In this session, Professor Thomas Pfeiffer, co-director of the Master's in International Law, Investments, and Trade (LL.M.), jointly offered by Heidelberg University and the University of Chile for over 20 years, discussed international commercial arbitration practices from a European perspective and shared valuable personal experiences as an arbitrator in international disputes. Dr. Elina Mereminskaya, a CAM arbitrator and LL.M. professor, provided her insights from a Latin American perspective with a comparative approach. The panel was moderated by Mg. Catalina Amenábar from DLA Piper Chile, an LL.M. graduate and CAM arbitrator.
Following the arbitration panel, María Gabriela De Abreu, LL.M. coordinator at HCLA and also a graduate, moderated an exchange of ideas and experiences among alumni, faculty, and new students. Lawyers Pablo Prüssing and Ignacio García, who obtained their LL.M. in Heidelberg, along with Laura Fonseca and Nicolás Schubert, graduates of the international LL.M. offered in Santiago, shared how their postgraduate studies transformed their careers. García and Fonseca perfectly illustrate a virtuous circle among professionals connected to Heidelberg. Having arrived in Chile from Cuba several years ago, lawyer Laura Fonseca graduated from the LL.M. at HCLA in 2022. After working at the Superintendence of Insolvency and Re-entrepreneurship, she became an associate in 2024 at the renowned law firm Porzio-Ríos-García, where Ignacio García, a partner, also teaches in the LL.M. Such unique connections frequently occur among professionals linked to the Heidelberg Center and Heidelberg University.
For Sebastián Osman, a Venezuelan LL.M. graduate, HCLA's support "was crucial. I was able to study in the most demanding and prestigious program in Latin America with financial assistance, but also in terms of finding a job, as the Master's program helped me advance my career in Chile as an international lawyer." Osman eventually became Head of International Trade at a law firm with a presence throughout Latin America and now runs his own legal advisory firm specializing in the export of Chilean fruits.
The cocktail reception that closed the event marked the conclusion of this networking forum. "Connecting Trajectories 2024 is designed for continuity, to be held annually with evolving formats," stated Dr. Inés Recio, Executive Academic Director of HCLA. "This has been a relaunch of our law alumni network. We have gathered suggestions on the dynamics our graduates truly find beneficial for advancing their careers: discussion panels, continuing education, excursions, corporate internships... Additionally, we presented our vision of creating support networks for new generations. The idea is to design mechanisms through which those who have studied in Heidelberg and, thanks to their effort and talent, have reached privileged professional positions can support future students and young professionals. It is another form of a virtuous circle: recognizing the value of what I have achieved and wishing to open that opportunity, that door, to others who deserve it," commented Recio. As Professor Pfeiffer emphasized, "This event is the kick-off of a new stage in the Heidelberg alumni network in Chile."
