The hire will take HWL Ebsworth's partner count to around 230, plus another 950 legal and support staff, across nine offices.

In the January Law Partnership Survey, HWL Ebsworth was the nation's largest firm with 214 partners, an increase of close to 40 per cent since 2013. TressCox had 27, down almost a third in the same time period.

The gender diversity data of the two firms was dramatically different: while HWL had just shy of 20 per cent women partners in the latest survey, TressCox had almost 45 per cent, giving it the highest ranking albeit across a relatively small base.

The firms did not reveal the names of those partners who will move to HWL Ebsworth.

Consolidation on cards

Industry experts anticipate the heavily disrupted legal market will see more consolidation in 2018, following a similar trend seen in the United States.

Ahead of his firm's own merger with HDY, which went 'live' on December 1, Norton Rose managing partner in Australia Wayne Spanner said the market was "ripe for consolidation". More than 30 partners have left the firms over the past nine months, although Norton Rose has touted a number of new hires and promotions in the same time.

Mr Martinez said HWL Ebsworth's "aggressive approach to delivering value" became "even more powerful as we continue to grow".


"The greater the spread of talent that we can offer our clients, the more profitable we become," he said.

"This allows us to absorb increases in variable costs such as salaries without needing to pass those onto our clients.

"We haven't increased our rates for ten years now, and we have no intention of increasing our standard rates any time soon."

'Interesting opportunities'

HWL Ebsworth is not in discussions with any other firm, but Mr Martinez said it would "continue to actively look for opportunities" and noted there were "interesting opportunities" at firms which delivered outstanding services without access to economies of scale.

The firm is known for keeping a tight rein on operating costs and overheads. Mr Martinez said partners joining could immediately cut their hourly rates by between 30 to 50 per cent while getting an increase in remuneration.

TressCox executive chairman Scott Chapman said the venture would offer clients "access to a significantly improved national footprint with greater depth and breadth of expertise" and give the firm's people "more varied career and professional development opportunities".