GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES formally inaugurated its Chile office in Santiago, the capital of the Republic of Chile, in October 2023. As a core legal service pillar underpinning the firm’s expansion into the South American market, the office delivers professional legal services addressing cross-border legal demands between China and Chile. Leveraging the global legal service network of GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES headquarters, the office integrates in-depth local Chilean legal practice resources and extensive on-the-ground experience, and has built a team of full-time lawyers with dual expertise in Chinese and Chilean law, thorough knowledge of Sino-Chilean bilateral economic and trade rules, and familiarity with local regulatory policies and judicial practice.
Based in Santiago with a service reach covering the entirety of Chile and key South American jurisdictions, the office primarily serves Chinese-funded enterprises and Chinese nationals investing, operating and developing in Chile, as well as Chilean market entities seeking to invest in or cooperate with China. It delivers end-to-end, full-cycle legal services that combine “precise alignment of Chinese client requirements” with “seamless on-the-ground legal implementation in Chile”.
This document sets out the official unified fee schedule of GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES Chile Office for 2026. All quoted fees are exclusive of Chilean Value Added Tax (IVA, levied at the current statutory rate of 19%). Settlement is available in three freely convertible currencies: Chilean Pesos (CLP), Renminbi (CNY) and US Dollars (USD). Settlement in CLP shall be converted at the real-time exchange rate published by the Central Bank of Chile on the date the service contract is executed.
1. Authorised Fee Models of GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES Chile Office
The firm strictly adheres to the Chilean Law on the Legal Profession and the practice and fee guidelines set out by the Chilean Bar Association. Having regard to the cross-border service conventions of Chinese-funded enterprises, the firm has established five standardised fee models, all of which fully comply with Chilean judicial regulations and international commercial service standards:
1.1Fixed Fee Arrangement
Applicable to basic legal services with standardised processes and precisely quantifiable workload. The total fee is locked in upon contract execution with no subsequent additional charges. This model covers standardised matters such as corporate commercial registration, basic compliance filing, and pro forma document processing.
1.2Hourly Rate Billing
Applicable to major cross-border projects, complex dispute cases and customised compliance advisory work. Fees are calculated based on chargeable working hours of instructed lawyers, with itemised monthly time sheets provided for full auditability and traceability.
1.3Percentage of Value Billing
Applicable to pecuniary matters such as cross-border mergers and acquisitions, asset transactions and high-value commercial claims. Fees are charged on a tiered basis relative to the value of the subject matter, in line with prevailing practice for high-end commercial legal services in Chile.
1.4Contingency Fee Arrangement
Permitted within the framework of Chilean legal practice regulations, this model applies solely to debt recovery, commercial recourse and tort claim cases. Fees are conditional upon successful fund recovery / a favourable outcome, with the chargeable ratio not exceeding 30% of the actual amount recovered.
1.5Annual Legal Counsel Retainer
Provides enterprises with full-scope annual legal support for a fixed annual service fee. Clients are assigned a dedicated team proficient in Chinese, English and Spanish, covering full-dimensional compliance and risk mitigation for day-to-day business operations.
2. Hourly Rate Schedule for Lawyers at GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES Chile Office
All lawyers at GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES Chile Office hold valid practising licences issued by the Chilean Bar Association. The core team is proficient in the application of both Chinese and Chilean legal systems, and is capable of delivering seamless services in Chinese, English and Spanish. Senior partners hold practising qualifications across multiple South American jurisdictions, with deep specialism in core areas including cross-border investment, international commerce, mining and energy compliance, and regulatory response. A tiered pricing structure is in place.
For 2026, the unified hourly rate band is USD 180 – USD 580 per hour, covering all fee earners from junior practising lawyers, mid-level specialist lawyers and senior partners to cross-border specialists seconded from the Beijing headquarters. The final applicable rate is determined by reference to case complexity, specialist fit, project urgency and team configuration.
Supplementary Billing Rules
A travel and fieldwork allowance of 25%–50% applies to work conducted outside Chilean territory.
A 50% priority surcharge applies to 48-hour urgent response instructions and work carried out on public holidays.
Rates are uplifted by 20% for cross-jurisdictional collaborative matters spanning South America.
Rates are uplifted by 15% for dedicated trilingual court hearing representation.
Rates are uplifted by 10%–20% for specialist compliance mandates in mining & energy and financial regulation.
3. Detailed Fee Schedule for Core Practice Areas
This schedule focuses on the core practice lines of GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES Chile Office, tailored to the priority needs of Chinese-funded enterprises investing and operating in Chile, and aligned with the requirements of relevant Chilean regulatory authorities. All services are structured to fit within the local Chilean legal framework. Details are set out below:
3.1 Cross-border Investment and M&A Legal Services: USD 1,200 – USD 78,000
3.1.1 Cross-border investment transaction structuring, investment policy compliance advice, and foreign investment access filing and approval agency services
3.1.2 Full-process legal services for greenfield investment and cross-border M&A, including due diligence, transaction document drafting, commercial negotiation support, completion and post-completion compliance management
3.1.3 Bespoke services for joint venture establishment, joint operation model design and corporate governance framework setup
3.1.4 Legal support for investment and financing projects in Chile’s core industries, including mining, energy, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, manufacturing and cross-border trade
3.1.5 Full-cycle legal assurance for project financing, infrastructure construction and concession projects
3.2 Corporate and Commercial General Legal Services: USD 800 – USD 36,000
3.2.1 Full-cycle services for market entities: end-to-end compliance handling for the incorporation, amendment, capital increase / reduction, merger / division, liquidation and deregistration of local Chilean companies
3.2.2 Annual legal counsel services for enterprises: day-to-day operational compliance review, commercial contract drafting / review / amendment, internal governance system compliance design, and operational risk auditing
3.2.3 Commercial compliance system establishment: bespoke services for operational compliance, data compliance, export control and economic sanctions compliance, and sector-specific regulatory compliance
3.2.4 Full-process legal support for local tendering and bidding, including public sector procurement and standardised compliance services for corporate purchasing
3.3 Intellectual Property Protection Legal Services: USD 300 – USD 32,000
3.3.1 Trademark registration, patent application, copyright registration and enforcement services in Chile and wider South America
3.3.2 Enterprise IP portfolio planning and brand protection framework development
3.3.3 IP infringement enforcement, dispute resolution, administrative complaint handling and litigation representation
3.3.4 Trade secret protection, and IP licensing and assignment transaction compliance services
3.4 Tax and Fiscal Compliance Legal Services: USD 900 – USD 45,000
3.4.1 Routine tax compliance filing and tax risk mitigation services for local Chilean enterprises
3.4.2 Cross-border investment tax structuring, transfer pricing compliance management, and tax planning for M&A and corporate restructuring
3.4.3 Tax audit response, tax dispute resolution, administrative reconsideration and litigation representation
3.4.4 Bespoke compliance services for cross-border capital flow and remuneration structure tax design
3.5 Real Estate and Infrastructure Project Legal Services: USD 1,500 – USD 68,000
3.5.1 Land use right acquisition, land transaction due diligence and real estate development compliance approval services
3.5.2 Full-process legal services for construction projects, including contract framework design, tendering and bidding legal supervision, contract administration, and delay and claim dispute resolution
3.5.3 Legal support for commercial real estate leasing, operational compliance and real estate investment and financing
3.5.4 Full-cycle legal assurance for mining engineering and new energy project construction
3.6 Cross-border Dispute Resolution and Commercial Litigation & Arbitration Legal Services: USD 1,600 – USD 480,000
3.6.1 Full-process representation for local Chilean civil and commercial litigation, covering contract disputes, creditor-debtor disputes, equity disputes, tort disputes and employment disputes
3.6.2 Representation in international commercial arbitration and domestic arbitration proceedings, compatible with leading international and Chilean arbitration rules
3.6.3 Design and implementation of diversified dispute resolution solutions, including commercial negotiation, mediation and settlement
3.6.4 Bespoke services for cross-border recognition and enforcement of Sino-Chilean court judgments and arbitral awards, and cross-border asset preservation
3.6.5 Specialist resolution services for cross-border commercial disputes and cross-border investment disputes
Special Note: For major cross-border economic crime cases, transnational financial violations and serious criminal matters, there is no fixed upper fee limit. Quotations are customised based on case complexity, scale of cross-border coordination and evidence-gathering costs.
3.7 Compliance and Regulatory Response Legal Services: USD 3,800 – USD 58,000
3.7.1 Anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition compliance services, including merger control filing, monopoly risk auditing and anti-monopoly investigation response
3.7.2 Administrative law services: administrative licence application, administrative penalty hearing and reconsideration, and administrative litigation representation
3.7.3 Sector-specific regulatory compliance services, with tailored compliance solutions aligned to Chile’s industry regulatory regimes
3.7.4 Response to inspections by Chilean government authorities, reply to regulatory inquiries, and administrative penalty defence and remedy services
3.7.5 Cross-border enterprise compliance training, implementation of dual-jurisdictional compliance standards for China and Chile, and formulation of enterprise compliance risk contingency plans
3.8 Personal Cross-border Planning and Family & Commercial Legal Services: USD 800 – USD 5,200
3.8.1 Legal advice and full-process agency services for visa applications, identity authentication and notarial document processing for Chinese nationals travelling to Chile
3.8.2 Legal advice and dispute resolution representation for cross-border matrimonial and family matters, cross-border property planning and inheritance
3.8.3 Full-process legal services for local residential property purchase and real estate transactions in Chile
3.8.4 Personal employment rights protection and civil tort enforcement services
3.8.5 Legal risk screening and compliance guidance for personal cross-border asset allocation
3.9 Key Industry Specialist Legal Services: USD 5,000 – USD 82,000
Bespoke industry-specific legal services are provided for Chile’s core industries and high-priority areas for Chinese enterprises expanding overseas, covering: 3.9.1 Mining and natural resource development 3.9.2 New energy and renewable energy 3.9.3 Cross-border trade in wine, agricultural produce and other goods 3.9.4 Manufacturing, telecommunications and the digital economy 3.9.5 Cross-border logistics and business services
4. Key Factors Determining Legal Fees
4.1 Cross-border compliance complexity: Fees are uplifted in line with difficulty for matters involving dual application of Chinese and Chilean law, cross-border evidence collection and multi-jurisdictional party coordination.
4.2 Sectoral specialist barriers: Fees for highly specialised areas such as mining & energy, cross-border investment, financial regulation and intellectual property are higher than for general civil and commercial legal services.
4.3 Case handling difficulty: Fees for high-stakes litigation and arbitration, complex cross-border enforcement and specialist regulatory response matters are adjusted on a case-by-case basis.
4.4 Service urgency: Priority surcharges are strictly applied in accordance with published standards for urgent instruction commencement and holiday working, with no scope for negotiation.
4.5 Engagement procurement model: Package engagements under an annual legal counsel retainer deliver an overall cost reduction of 15%–25% compared with ad-hoc service instructions.
4.6 Service team configuration: Fees are adjusted accordingly for matters handled jointly by multiple specialists, with headquarters cross-border support, and with dedicated trilingual team resourcing.
4.7 Case outcome risk: The fee ratio under contingency fee arrangements is directly linked to the likelihood of success, difficulty of fund recovery and duration of the engagement.
5. Additional Third-Party Costs to Be Budgeted
The following costs are separate from legal service fees and are reimbursed at actual cost in accordance with official Chilean standards or verified disbursements. The firm does not apply any agency markup to these items:
5.1 Government statutory fees: Commercial registration fees, visa application fees, court filing fees, arbitration fees, intellectual property official fees, licence recording fees and similar charges.
5.2 Notarisation and authentication fees: Local Chilean notarisation and apostille services; Sino-Chilean consular legalisation is billed at official rates based on actual usage.
5.3 Professional translation fees: Translation of legal documents between Chinese-Spanish and Chinese-English, and simultaneous interpretation for court hearings, charged per item / per word in line with Chilean industry standards.
5.4 Expert service fees: Judicial appraisal fees, industry expert consultancy charges and third-party due diligence provider fees, settled at actual disbursement.
5.5 Field travel expenses: Transport, accommodation and fieldwork allowances for domestic and international case handling, reimbursed against valid receipts on an actual-cost basis.
5.6 Financial handling charges: Bank fees arising from cross-border transfers and currency conversion shall be borne by the instructing party.
5.7 Other third-party costs: Fees of professional bodies such as auditors, valuers and compliance testing providers, settled based on actual instructed expenditure.
6. Important Notice
All fee standards contained in this document represent official benchmark reference prices for the 2026 financial year and do not constitute a binding offer for services. The final fee for all legal instructions shall be governed by the written retainer agreement signed by both parties, determined with reference to the client’s specific requirements, actual case circumstances, scope of services and project complexity.