MARÍA LORENA KÄCHELE MELO

Law degree, Universidad Central de Chile, graduated with highest honors, 1998. Master of Laws, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain, 1999.

Teaching Assistant at the School of Law, Central University of Chile (1999–2001). Course on Litigation in Family Courts. Course on Financial Compensation. Speaker at a seminar on “Parental Alienation Syndrome.” Certificate in Family Procedural Law, Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, 2022.

Director of the Family Lawyers Association (2011–2014). Member of the Chilean Bar Association. Member of the International Association of Family Law Jurists (AIJUDEFA).

She has served as a speaker at the annual AIJUDEFA Congresses: in Cancún, Mexico, in 2023, on the topic of “Electronic Evidence and Telematic Hearings”; and in Porto, Portugal, in 2024, at the conference “Crossroads in International Family and Succession Law,” where she presented on “Joint Custody versus Sole Custody: An Analysis of Trends.” Participant in the 7th International Congress on Family Law, held in Panama in 2026, titled “The Family as a Bridge Between Cultures and Rights.”

Since 2005, she has specialized in family law litigation.

Associate at Saldivia, Contreras, Inalaf, Würth, Espinoza, Prieto y Cía. between 2003 and 2009. Partner at Socio Legal Santiago between 2009 and 2019.

In 2019, she joined Puga Ortiz Abogados as an associate.