Legal retainer (iguala)

The iguala legal — also called iguala mensual — is the term traditionally used in the Chilean market for a legal retainer: a fee arrangement in which a company pays a law firm a fixed monthly amount in exchange for ongoing legal counsel, instead of paying by the hour or per matter. For the company, the central advantage is predictability: legal spend becomes a known, budgetable monthly cost that does not grow with every call or email to the lawyer. That removes the incentive to avoid consulting for fear of the bill and lets counsel step in early, when problems are cheapest to solve. The scope of a retainer varies by contract: it can cover unlimited consultations, contract review, and day-to-day labor and corporate advice, with typical carve-outs such as litigation or extraordinary projects quoted separately. The Outside General Counsel (OGC) model is an evolution of the traditional retainer: beyond the fixed monthly fee, the firm operates embedded in the company as its external legal department, with accumulated knowledge of the business and permanent dedication, not merely as an on-demand provider.