Jaime Carey, who this week became the first Chilean president of the International Bar Association, tells Latin Lawyer that he will use his position to spotlight underrepresented regions within the IBA, strengthen ties with Latin America and make strides towards achieving gender parity in the legal profession. Carey assumed the role on 1 January. The partner received the IBA’s presidential torch from Almudena Arpón de Mendívil Aldama, a senior partner at Spain’s Gomez-Acebo & Pombo, who held the position since 2023. Carey says the appointment to the IBA’s presidency is an apt culmination of his 41 years at the institution and a career "peak.” “Taking on this leading role at the IBA feels like an accomplishment that I have been working towards for a long time. I look forward to getting more involved with all the different divisions of the IBA and encouraging the spirit of unity and cohesion across the organisation.” As the IBA’s president, Carey aims to leverage his strong ties and position as a highly respected lawyer within the Latin American legal community to involve more lawyers from the region in IBA matters and events, whilst boosting visibility. He adds that this is particularly important as Latin America is experiencing "a special moment," given its potential as a significant investment destination for major world economies like China and the US. One of Carey’s objectives in his new role will be to shine a light on the region’s opportunities as well as ongoing challenges. Besides increasing the focus on Latin America, Carey also aims to spotlight regions that are less commonly represented in the IBA. "We want to focus specifically on Asia and Africa, where the IBA has been lacking the presence it would like," explains Carey. He plans to achieve this by organizing more conferences and events in these regions and fostering stronger connections and collaborations with local bar associations, law societies, firms and lawyers. Thanks to his long experience within the IBA and knowledge of the ins and outs of the organization, Carey is well-positioned for this task. Carey has held several leadership roles at the IBA during the four decades that he has been a member of the organization. He has been a member of the management board since 2011, while he previously led the corporate law committee, the Latin American Regional Forum and Legal Practice Division. In 2021, Carey became the IBA’s first Chilean co-secretary general, while he was co-vice president from 2023 to 2024. With a keen ear for the latest market trends, Carey also emphasizes the focus on artificial intelligence (AI) during his tenure. He plans to utilize AI resources to enhance the accessibility of IBA events using tools such as simultaneous translation to break down language barriers and increase participation from countries where English is not the first language. This plan is part of the IBA's broader commitment to advancing AI projects. In collaboration with the Centre for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP), the IBA provides critical insights into the governance and judicial and ethical deployment of AI technologies in legal practice. Carey will continue driving this work, explaining that he also wants to integrate AI into the IBA’s daily operations and help bring information from its vast database out of the archives: “We aim to leverage AI to create an intelligent, userfriendly database that will make the information in the IBA archives more accessible,” explains Carey. He adds that this will allow many pre-existing projects undertaken by the various IBA committees and task forces “to serve as a valuable starting point for new initiatives, eliminating the need to start from scratch or reinvent the wheel.” Among other top priorities, Carey will focus on the IBA's diversity initiatives, promoting female leadership and increasing representation of neurodivergent lawyers and individuals. Having been part of the IBA’s Diversity and Inclusion Council for several years, he is committed to furthering projects such as the IBA’s 50:50 by 2030, which aims to uncover gender disparity causes in the legal profession, assess equality initiatives and produce a blueprint for gender equality at all levels. As part of the IBA's diversity drive, Carey also aims to increase gender parity among IBA members, of whom 36% are currently women. Commenting on this goal, Carey acknowledges that while there is “still work to be done”, progress has been promising. He highlights figures from the IBA’s most recent annual conference in Mexico City, where the percentage of female officers and speakers stood at 46% and 45%, respectively. Despite the work ahead, Carey explains that he is grateful knowing he won’t be embarking on this next chapter alone: “The IBA has a team of dedicated people who have a lot of experience and do a fantastic job that makes our life easier. I feel very much supported by them,” he says. Carey emphasizes that this collective effort is crucial for strengthening the IBA’s commitment to upholding the rule of law and protecting the independence of the legal profession and judiciary. “If we all contribute our little grain of sand, I think we can make the world a much better place […] I’m looking forward to being president and I hope I can leave a footprint and give more visibility to Latin America and other regions in these times,” concludes Carey. In addition to his role as IBA President, Jaime Carey remains active as a senior partner and chairman at Elite firm Carey – Chile's largest law firm. He previously managed the f irm between 2000 and August 2024, having handed leadership to M&A partner Pablo Iacobelli earlier this year. At the same time, he replaced his brother Jorge Carey as the f irm’s chairman. In 2020, Latin Lawyer honoured Jaime Carey as the Law Firm Leader of the Year. Carey is the first Chilean lawyer to lead the IBA, and the fourth Latin American practitioner to hold the position. The last Latin American lawyer to lead the IBA was Horacio Bernardes Neto, who was also the organization’s first Brazilian president. Prior to him, Fernando Peláez-Pier of Venezuela’s Hoet Peláez Castillo & Duque served in the position between 2009 and 2010, following on from Argentine lawyer Emilio Cárdenas whose tenure as president covered the 2003-2004 term. The IBA is made up of 80,000 member lawyers and over 190 bar associations spanning over 170 countries.