Juan Francisco Mackenna
Recognized since 2013
Santiago, Chile
Energy Law
Investment
Natural Resources Law
Oil and Gas Law
Project Finance and Development Practice



Experience
Partner of Carey and co-head of the firm’s Energy Group. His practice area is focused on energy regulatory matters and various types of energy projects, including contracts for electricity, liquid fuels, natural gas, NCRE accreditations, electric transmission, gas transportation, engineering and construction of infrastructure projects, property and land use permits, environmental matters and litigation related to regulatory matters of the energy industry, and civil law.
Activities and Memberships
- Member of the Board and advisor, World Energy Council (WEC), Chile chapter.
- Former member of the Advisory Council, Chilean Arab Chamber of Commerce and Investments.
- Member of the Council, Asociación Chilena de Energías Renovables (ACERA) (2017-2018).
- Founder and former vicechairman, Small and Mid-sized Hydro Projects Association (APEMEC).
- Former member of the Energy Technical Commission, Confederación de la Producción y el Comercio (CPC).
- Former vicechairman, Fundación Mi Parque.
- Past president of the Chilean-Australian Chamber of Commerce (2010-2016).
- Invited scholar the Master of Energy Law, School of Law, Universidad Externado de Colombia (2012-2014).
- Member of the Board of Instituto Libertad, El Líbero and Fundación Independízate.
- Member of the Council of the Section on Energy, Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law (SEERIL), International Bar Association (2012-2016).
- Writer of the SIC-SING interconnection bill, which was signed into law in 2013 (Law N° 20,726).Member of the Drafting Committee of the Public Electric Highway, presented before Congress by President Sebastián Piñera in 2012.
- Member of the Chilean Energy Ministry’s Drafting Committee for the NCRE bill, which was signed into law in 2010 (Law N° 20,698).
- Advisor on a major change to a legal project of the Chilean Ministry of Energy to change the current regulation regarding transmission in relation to construction permits, stronger capacity, tariff and environmental certainties in Chile.
- Past president of the Power Law Committee, International Bar Association (2011 and 2012).
- Assistant professor of Mining Law, Universidad de Chile (2001-2008).
- Foreign associate, Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, New York (2000-2001).
- Assistant professor of Civil Law, Universidad Diego Portales (1998).
- Member of the Chilean Bar Association.
- Member of the International Bar Association.
Publications
- Peer reviewer in "The Transformation of the Electricity Industry and Challenges of Energy Law", coord. PhD Vivian Lima López Valle and Prof. Lucio Sánchez Povis, Universidad Católica del Perú (2022).
- Co-author of the Chilean chapter of Construction and Projects Q&As Global Guide, Thomson Reuters (2018-2020).
- Co-author of the Chilean chapter of "Foreign Investment in South America: A Comprehensive Guide to Infrastructure and the Legal Environment", American Bar Association (2018).
- Co-author of Electricity Projects & Regulations, Latin Lawyer (2015-2017).
- Author of the Annual Report: Energy and Utilities, Financier Worldwide (2013).
- Co-author of the Chilean chapter on Energy, First Edition, Global Legal Insights, Global Legal Group (2012).
- Author of the Chilean chapter of Electricity Regulation, Getting the Deal Through (2007-2009).
Seminars
- Frequent lecturer in local and international seminars and conferences, organized by entities such as the International Bar Association, Texas Bar Association, Latin Lawyer, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Enagás and Green World Conferences, AUSCHAM, etc.
- E-mail: jfmackenna@carey.cl
- Lawyer Page: https://www.carey.cl/en/resume/juan-francisco-mackenna/
- Isidora Goyenechea 2800, Piso 43
Las Condes
Santiago
Chile
- English
- Spanish
- Duke University, LL.M., graduated 2000
- Harvard University, Program of Instruction for Lawyers, graduated 2000
- Chile, Bar Association of Chile


- Energy Law, Santiago, Chile (2023)
- Energy Law, Santiago, Chile (2016)
- Energy Law
- Investment
- Natural Resources Law
- Oil and Gas Law
- Project Finance and Development Practice
- Energy
- Mining
- Named Lawyer of the Year in Energy, Best Lawyers (2016 and 2023).
- Recognized as Best Individual Lawyer in Energy & Natural Resources, Client Choice (2022)
- Recognized in Energy; Environmental; Natural Resources and Project Finance and Development, Best Lawyers.
Lawyer of the Year Award in Energy, Best Lawyers (2016).
- Recognized in Energy: Project Finance and Mining, Who’s Who Legal.
- Recognized in Energy and Administrative Law, LACCA.
- Recognized in Energy and Natural Resources, Legal 500.
- Recognized in Energy and in Mining & Metals, Latin Lawyer 250.
- Recognized in Energy and Natural Resources; Mining; Environment, and Projects, Chambers Latin America.
- Recognized in Project Development, IFLR1000.
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