Your best project for November has failed.
Completely.
The concession was awarded.
The financing was signed.
The launch dinner was excellent.
Twelve months later:
The financing is not fully secured.
A permit is missing.
The employment union consultation has stalled.
The EPC contractor is preparing a claim.
And local counsel has started an email with:
“As previously advised…”
Never a good sign.
Now relax.
None of this has happened.
Yet.
Psychologist Gary Klein calls this a premortem.
Before the project starts, tell the team:
“Imagine it is one year from now. This project has failed badly. Write down why.”
Everyone writes alone.
That part matters.
People say things privately that they would never say while the sponsor is explaining how strategic the project is.
The power route was assumed.
The concession agreement conflicts with the EPC schedule.
Nobody owns the environmental permits.
The local partner has political access but no delivery capability.
The budget contains optimism in several currencies.
Very useful.
At Ambar, Fractional Counsel for infrastructure and concessions in Latin America can run that exercise at the start and then own the legal map.
True inhouse experience.
Boots on the ground.
Concession agreement in Colombia.
Land issues in Peru.
Permits in Mexico.
EPC and O&M contracts in Chile.
Financing conditions in NY.
Too many local advisers.
Notices and claims.
The internal A team stays close to the investment committee and business sponsor.
The project gets one senior legal project owner before every workstream develops its own version of reality.
Let the project fail in November.
On paper.
It is much cheaper than discovering the same problems in arbitration three years later.
Stay cool,
Dr. No
Before you go: how Ambar can help
We help GCs access senior independent legal talent when their teams need more range, more speed or more specialist judgment.
1) Fractional counsel for capacity gaps
When a key lawyer moves role, goes on leave, or gets pulled into a strategic project, we help cover the gap without adding permanent structure.
2) Specialist expertise for new areas
Privacy, AI, technology contracts, payments, cybersecurity, energy, regulatory or new jurisdictions — senior lawyers who bring knowledge into the team, not just hours.
3) The layer between in-house and traditional firms
For work that is too senior for junior execution, too close to the business for a law firm machine, and too temporary for a permanent hire.
4) Legal AI that learns your standard
We help legal teams turn senior judgment into playbooks, model answers, red flags, evals and error-analysis frameworks for the AI tools their teams already use.
Not generic AI. Your legal standard.
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Stay cool,
Dr. No