"Over the last 12 months we have acted for 13 of the top 20 ASX-listed entities."

Martinez has no intention of slowing the sustained growth in his firm, but is still interested in cultural fit.

"If a new partner is going to add to our pool of talent, while also offering access to new client relationships, we would be foolish not to take the time to determine whether they are culturally aligned to our firm," he said.

HWL Ebsworth's managing partner Juan Martinez . Luis Enrique Ascui

He explained that of the firm's 266 partners, 184 were equity partners and 82 were salaried partners.

"We don't operate a lockstep model of any kind, and everyone is rewarded based on merit having considered their performance during the previous year.

"I can't think of a better way to avoid complacency,"

HWL has not changed its hourly rate for prices for 10 years and – at about $450-500 an hour – it charges about half of what most top-tier partners bill clients. It does little high-value work such as M &A, but scoops up a lot of high-volume work with both the public and private sectors.


The phrase "poking the bear" was never more apt as Martinez ran through other claims put to him by Legal Affairs.

"We understand that other firms seek to position us as a cheap rather than quality option but this is a self-serving myth that is wearing thin," he said.

"The fact that we are offering rates at these levels is one of the few factors preventing other firms from happily increasing their rates further ... to $1200 an hour or more?"

No private art collection or chefs

The firm "will not invest in nice-to-haves", he said.

"We wouldn't invest in a private art collection, we don't have teams of chefs.

"We don't hire teams of people to invent problems that need to be fixed, and we hold our annual partner conference in Albert Park in Melbourne rather than in Paris."

It was finally put to Martinez that HWL was regarded by some as a "hotel for lawyers" that provided more autonomy – aside from the financial and record-keeping disciplines imposed on practitioners – than other big firms. That Martinez takes care of the business and they take care of the lawyering (a plus for many), which means less meetings and management issues, but carries the downside of very little input into firm decisions.

"The phrase 'hotel for lawyers' doesn't ring true as it suggests a transience or a lack of ownership. We are completely transparent with our new partners," Martinez said.

"It's true though that my management team and I have responsibility for running all aspects of the business ... the partners appreciate the freedom that provides them."

You can imagine the rest. And he's on holiday.