King Hall hosts outstanding visiting scholars from Chile

Nicole Nehme and Rodrigo Ferrada

This spring semester, UC Davis School of Law hosted outstanding visiting scholars from Chile: Rodrigo Ferrada, Nicole Nehme and Patricio Leyton of top Chilean law firm FerradaNehme, as well as lawyer and scholar Lorena Pineiro. UC Davis School of Law LL.M. alumnus Jorge Rojas, in his role as an alumni ambassador and key advocate for UC Davis Law in Chile, worked closely with these special guests to arrange their visit, as well as the recent visits of other prominent guests from Chile.

Nicole Nehme and her husband, Rodrigo Ferrada, are the founding partners of FerradaNehme, one of Chile’s 10 largest law firms and the fifth most prestigious by top practice areas. Nehme is the economic law partner for the firm, which she and Ferrada envisioned from the beginning as focusing on specialized areas, including antitrust and, more recently, litigation, environmental law, public law (in which they consult in the drafting of laws as well as represent state bodies in litigation), consumer law, and data protection. Nehme described the founding of the firm as “from the very beginning, a love story”— for her and Ferrada, and their shared passion for creating a progressive corporate culture while strategically combining both public and private practice, with a goal of the overall social good.

Nehme was grateful for her time at UC Davis this semester. It was her second experience as a visiting scholar at the law school. When the opportunity to study at UC Davis became available the first time several years ago, she was thrilled. “Our time here [at UC Davis] has allowed our children to have a public school experience here and, last time, allowed me to write a paper and create a new course for Universidad de Chile called ‘Antitrust and New Technologies,’” Nehme shared. “This visit,” she noted, “I am going deeper into the course content as I substantially revise it, and to do so, I am working in the legal and the behavioral economic dimensions and beyond. This landscape has changed so much in just a few years.”

FerradaNehme’s award-winning Managing Partner Rodrigo Ferrada specializes in the study of gender law (notably, FerradaNehme was the first firm in Chile to eliminate the gender pay gap). Ferrada chose to return to UC Davis School of Law for a second period of study because he felt “at home on a campus where social interest, public policies and positive affirmation of values that we share are present everywhere.” During this visit to King Hall, Ferrada researched in the areas of gender law and regulations, both as public policies and as means to improve business performance. He spent much of his time working out a new strategic plan for the firm, which focuses on talent, diversity and technology. Ferrada shared that, “while strengthening the practices areas that already have obtained recognition, we want to launch new practices that integrate two or more of the other practices.” Ferrada looks forward to his next visit to King Hall. “I have visited other law schools in the U.S. and Europe,” he reflected, “and the balance between quality law resources and the personable aspect of King Hall is incomparable. King Hall embraces and is a leader in the most innovative areas of law.”

Patricio Leyton is the first partner FerradaNehme brought on after the firm’s founding, and he joined Ferrada and Nehme at UC Davis to conduct his own work as a visiting scholar this semester. After graduating from Universidad de Chile (where he currently teaches environmental law), he completed his master’s at Georgetown University and now specializes in environmental law. Leyton was delighted to find that the California law classes were so useful for his future studies: “California’s approaches to legislation are applicable to policymaking in Chile,” he noted, “and my mind has been opened to concepts that I had not seen before.” On a personal level, Leyton believes his time here has been extremely useful. “I started taking meditation classes at King Hall,” he commented, “which I plan on sharing with my firm. I surpassed all my personal and academic goals and was able to practice reflection. Now, I feel prepared to continue on with my normal life in Chile.”

Associate Dean Beth Greenwood commented that “UC Davis deeply values our relationships with our colleagues from Chile, and we look forward to partnering with FerradaNehme in the future.”

Visiting Scholar Lorena Pineiro studied law at the Universidad de Chile (where she met her husband, FerradaNehme partner Patricio Leyton) and completed her LL.M. at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has practiced for many years at several major Chilean companies. Currently, Pineiro is an Invited Professor at the Universidad de Chile Law School, on Ethics and Compliance. Pineiro came to UC Davis School of Law to study business ethics, and ethics and compliance in preparation for teaching, and shared that she looks forward to incorporating concepts from the Legal Ethics in Corporate Practice and Feminist and Legal Theory courses she audited into her upcoming courses. Pineiro enjoyed her time at UC Davis School of Law as “a time to think and ask myself, ‘What are you doing, where are you going, and are you doing what you need to and want to do?’ This was not only an academic experience but also a valuable life experience.”

For more information about the International Law Programs, please visit law.ucdavis.edu/international or contact Kate Asche at internationallaw@ucdavis.edu or 530-752-6081.