HWL Ebsworth is a commercial

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

that operates throughout

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is the largest partnership among Australian law firms, with 280 partners. HWL Ebsworth operates offices in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, Darwin,

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Norwest,

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. It trades in the areas of Banking & Financial Services, Building & Construction, Corporate & Commercial, Insurance, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Planning & Environment, Government, Real Estate & Projects, Transport and Workplace Relations & Safety.

History

HWL Ebsworth traces its foundation back to the 1890s. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, the firm was known as Ebsworth and Ebsworth prior to merging with Home Wilkinson Lowry in 2008. In 2011 HWL Ebsworth opened its new office in

, one of the largest law offices located in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

. In 2013 the firm expanded into

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

by merging with Downings Legal. In 2014 HWL Ebsworth merged with

commercial law firm Kelly & Co and established an office in Adelaide. 530 Collins Street

Australia Square building in George Street Sydney

In December 2014, HWL Ebsworth announced that it had acquired two additional Australian law firms based in the Northern Territory and South Australia. In August 2016, HWL Ebsworth opened a Tasmanian office, making it the only commercial law firm to have offices in every State and Territory of Australia. In February 2018, HWL Ebsworth acquired mid-tier firm TressCox Lawyers, founded in 1897, bringing the partner count to approximately 230 plus another 900 legal and support staff. On 18 March 2024, Managing Partner Juan Martinez passed away aged 64 from a suspected heart attack. Martinez took over in 1998, growing the firm from 40 partners to 285. The firm’s chairman, Ross Williams, assumed the role of acting managing partner.

Cyberincident 2023

At the start of May 2023, reports began emerging that HWL Ebsworth had been hacked, with claims that 4 terabytes of data had been illegally accessed and copied by culprits in Russia. In mid-June the figure of 4 terabytes was revised and reduced to 3.6 terabytes, and a figure of 2.37 million files was reported. This included files relating to about 45 federal or state government departments and about 50 ASX 100 corporations. HWLE refused to pay a ransom of $7 million. In June 2023, the company successfully sought an injunction from the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian States and territories of Australia, State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil law (common law), civil matters, and hears ...

to prevent anyone discussing what is in the stolen cache of data. The gag order covered the firm's clients as well as news media.

Practice areas

HWL Ebsworth is a full-service commercial law firm and the firm accordingly participates in all major commercial law practice areas. A substantial amount of the firm's work includes: Thursday, 11 February 2021 * Insurance, * Banking and Financial Services, * Construction, * Capital Markets, * Corporate and Commercial, * Energy and Resources, * Government, * Insolvency, * Intellectual Property, * Litigation and Dispute Resolution, and * Transport.

Recognition

As of 2020, HWL Ebsworth was ranked by

Chambers and Partners Chambers and Partners (often noted elsewhere as Chambers & Partners) is a research firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that produces international rankings for the legal industry. Orbach and Chambers Orbach and Chambers Publishing Lim ...

as a "band 1" Australian firm in aviation, native title and shipping, and by

The Legal 500 Legalease Ltd. is a global legal research and publishing company founded in the UK in 1987. The company assesses global law firms and lawyers for its publications, annual lists and guides, including ''Legal Business'', ''GC Magazine'' and ''The ...

as a "tier 1" Australian firm in aviation.

Offices

(447 Collins Street - Head Office) *

(

Australia Square Australia Square Tower is an office and retail skyscraper in the Sydney central business district, Australia. Its main address is 264 George Street, and the square is bounded on the northern side by Bond Street, eastern side by Pitt Street and ...

) * Norwest (

Norwest Business Park The Norwest Business Park is a business park in the suburbs of Norwest, New South Wales, Norwest and Bella Vista, New South Wales, Bella Vista in the Local government areas of New South Wales, local government area of The Hills Shire in Sydney, N ...

) * Darwin (Mitchell Centre) *

(HWL Ebsworth Building) *

( 480 Queen Street) *

(240 St George's Terrace) *

( Westpac House) *

(85 Macquarie Street)

Notable employees

* Sandy Street, a judge of the

Federal Circuit Court of Australia The Federal Circuit Court of Australia, formerly known as the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia or the Federal Magistrates Service, was an Australian court hierarchy, Australian court with jurisdiction over matters broadly relating to fami ...

, worked as a lawyer at the firm before being called to the Bar. *

Ron McCallum Ronald Clive McCallum AO (born 8 October 1948) is an Australian legal academic. He is an expert in labour law, and has served as a professor and dean of law at the University of Sydney. He is the first totally blind person to be appointed to a f ...

AO, a legal academic and former dean of law at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, became a consultant at HWL Ebsworth in 2010. * Alan Rose AO, a former public servant, became a consultant at HWL Ebsworth in 2012.

References

{{Authority control Law firms of Australia