DLA Piper is a global law firm helping clients achieve their goals wherever they do business. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Matías Zegers and Charles Torres, Latin America-specialized Emerging Growth and Venture Capital (EGVC) partners at DLA Piper, to learn more about their roles.
(Image: Left: Matías Zegers, Right: Charles Torres)
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): Could you tell me more about your background?
DLA Piper (Matías): I am a corporate lawyer with close to 30 years of experience. I went to Law School in Chile, then Graduate school in the US (Michigan) and was a visiting scholar at Stanford. I worked for elite law firms in Chile and New York. I left my New York City firm to found, together with two other founding partners, another law firm which joined DLA Piper 8 years ago. I am currently Country Managing Partner of DLA Piper Chile. As part of my career, I am mostly dedicated to venture capital, M&A (exits of tech companies) and corporate governance. I am also a tenured professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Law School, teaching corporate law and corporate governance in both undergrad and grad programs.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): What has been your favorite memory working for your firm so far?
DLA Piper (Matías): I have multiple, but I would say (i) the journey, starting from scratch and developing a firm office that is one of the top in the market; and (ii) the people that I work with today and have worked with over the years. They are outstanding professionals with a remarkable culture.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): What have been some of your firm’s most significant milestones?
DLA Piper (Matías): From starting as basically a non-existent brand in the market to becoming one of the elite firms in Chile, it has felt more like numerous baby steps rather than milestones. Obviously joining DLA Piper was a major step, but also developing a business model where innovation is not just a concept but part of our DNA. Developing new practice areas and methodologies are also key factors for success in an industry where change takes significant time.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): Would you like to share any specific legal success stories?
DLA Piper (Matías): There are many, but I would like to highlight two. We were among the first firms to work in renewable energy in the country at a time when talking about solar and wind energy was more a dream rather than a reality. Now these sources of energy represent 40-plus percent of our energy matrix. Another is being pioneers advising in venture capital deals, which allowed us to work with entrepreneurs who got the biggest exit in the region to date, a landmark in the VC ecosystem so far.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): Can you discuss any KPIs or other metrics about the firm?
DLA Piper (Matías): Data is key to measuring a healthy business in a highly competitive market. We have multiple metrics to ensure we work as a team with the doses of efficiency and solidarity required in our business.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): What are some of the industries that your firm is focused on?
DLA Piper (Matías): Tech, energy, consumer goods & retail, industrials, financial institutions, fintech, food & beverages.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): What differentiates your law firm from others?
DLA Piper (Matías): People and culture. It’s important to have professionals who know their craft, are intellectually curious, work as a team and are innovative.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): What are some of the challenges you faced while working at the firm?
DLA Piper (Matías): We twice built a brand that didn’t exist in the market, developing trust among a group of professionals when we weren’t yet a well-established firm.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): What are some of your firm’s future goals?
DLA Piper (Matías): To be the best that we can be. With the team we have and the people who hopefully will join us in coming years, we will add even more value to our clients in the way we provide legal services, while preserving our culture in a way that makes our team proud of what they are doing and, again, how they are doing it.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): Could you tell me more about your background?
DLA Piper (Charles): I am a corporate lawyer with more than 25 years of experience working with emerging companies and venture capital funds. I am a finance (equity and debt) and M&A lawyer by trade but act as outsourced general counsel to my private company clients. I went to New York University for undergrad and then the University of Chicago Law School (where I studied with US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, among others).
As an associate, I became fixated on helping the NYC venture community grow. When I began, NYC was behind even Philadelphia in terms of venture financings. I became fully part of the ecosystem— hosted cocktail hours, ski trips, poker tournaments, whiskey tastings, started accelerators, taught, did pro bono work for startups, and anything else designed to help build the ecosystem. Now, it is the largest and fastest-growing market.
As a partner, while I continued the community-building events, I began to teach and mentor. I became Chair of the Emerging Companies Committee at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York; I lecture at Columbia Business School and co-founded the Startup Law Studio – Columbia Entrepreneurship; I taught Introduction to Venture Capital at Cornell Tech (Cornell Law School); I lecture each year at the PLI’s session on private securities offerings, and I am currently writing a book on this area. In sum, I live venture capital.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): What has been your favorite memory working for your firm so far?
DLA Piper (Charles): I believe that venture capital is becoming more and more of a global sport. When I started my career, working with startups and investors was extremely local. If you couldn’t walk over to the client’s offices, you likely didn’t work with them. So, my favorite memory here at DLA Piper is one week where I was on deals / calls with our Puerto Rico office, Warsaw office, London office and Oslo office. Truly a fun experience for me.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): What are some of the industries that your firm is focused on?
DLA Piper (Charles): DLA Piper is focused on a variety of industries. Frankly, it is a 5,500 lawyer firm and covers most verticals well. From my perspective, I am focused on technology and healthcare (digital). Also, we are keenly focused on AI, but that is not a vertical in my opinion. It is a horizontal that will touch all others.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): What differentiates your law firm from others?
DLA Piper (Charles): While several other firms do venture well, our distinguishing factor is the ability to bring global teams together, for both private companies and investors. For example, we recently had a transaction for a venture capital fund which required international expertise (Sweden, Luxembourg, France and US), as well as global data and privacy expertise. We were able to bring our resources to bear seamlessly for our client. I honestly don’t think a lot of firms can do that.
Pulse 2.0 (Amit): What are some of your firm’s future goals?
DLA Piper (Charles): Quite simply, we would like to grow and be recognized as the best firm for private companies. We are focused on growth in key areas like New York and San Francisco, but we are also focusing on the global connectivity that gives us our advantage.
