José Manuel Cortés

Director

José Manuel is a Director at MSyA Abogados, where he focuses his practice on mining and water law, as well as environmental law. His experience includes the establishment and acquisition of mining and water assets, as well as the various property rights associated with such assets. He also has a distinguished track record advising clients on obtaining sector-specific permits from SERNAGEOMIN and the General Directorate of Water, on environmental impact assessments for projects, and on inspection and sanction proceedings before various sectoral and environmental authorities. He combines his legal practice with international academic research on comparative regulation of mining, water, and the environment.

He has extensive prior experience as an in-house counsel for major copper mining and salmon farming companies.

Education

» Law, Faculty of Law, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

» Master of Energy and Resources Law, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne.

» Diploma in Permits, Concessions and Administrative Authorizations, Universidad de los Andes.

» Academic Exchange Program in Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Memberships & Activities

» Research Assistant at the Melbourne Centre for Law and the Environment, on a project on the comparative regulation of cumulative environmental impacts, whose findings are part of the book Regulating a Thousand Cuts: Global Law and Policy Solutions to Cumulative Environmental Problems (Rebecca L. Nelson, Cambridge University Press, 2025).

» Research Assistant at Watertrust Australia, on a regulatory project for the Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, whose findings informed the Territory’s new water legislation.

» Research Assistant at the Environmental Studies Program of the University of California, Santa Barbara, on a project on groundwater regulation in the western United States.

Publications

» Cortés Leighton, J. M., “Lithium Mining in Chile: Assuring Water Resources’ Sustainability”, University of Denver Water Law Review, Spring 2025. The article examines the Chilean regulatory framework on water use in the lithium industry, with a focus on the water sustainability of the Salar de Atacama.

Languages

Spanish, English.