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 clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

that operates throughout

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is the largest partnership among Australian law firms, with 269 partners as of 2020. HWL Ebsworth operates offices in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, Darwin,

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Norwest,

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. 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 (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

. In 2013 the firm expanded into

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

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.

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 as the number of files encompassed by the hack, which included files of about 45 federal or state government departments and about 50 ASX 100 corporations. 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 State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court i ...

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. Further reading: The Australian 2 May 2023 Data stolen as top legal firm hacked. Australian Financial Review 2 May 2023 Big game hunting hackers ALPHV claim major breach of law firm HWL Ebsworth. Australian Financial Review 5 May 2023 How Black Cat hackers targeted HWL Ebsworth. Australian Financial Review 5 June 2023 Hackers give HWL Ebsworth ultimatum. Yahoo News 9 June 2023 Law firm investigates cyber hack data release claim. New Daily 9 June 2023 Major law firm HWL Ebsworth probing data hack. ABC News 9 June 2023 Russian-linked hackers taunt HWL Ebsworth over data breach - claim to have published files to dark web Australian Financial Review 10 June 2023 That is a no say HWL Ebsworth to cyber hacks. Australian Financial Review 14 June 2023 Law firm takes Black Cat hackers to court to prevent data access (sic, to make data exploitation a contempt of court). LawyersWeekly 15 June 2023 Inside HWL Ebsworth s plan to manage a 4TB data leak. The Australian 15 June 2023 Privacy watchdog's data stolen. Australian Financial Review 16 June 2023 Inside HWLE's negotiations with BlackCat hackers. The Australian 17 June 2023 Defence loses top secrets in hack.

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. As of 2020, HWL Ebsworth was ranked by

Chambers and Partners Chambers and Partners (often noted elsewhere as Chambers & Partners) produces international rankings for the legal industry, which is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Orbach and Chambers Orbach and Chambers Publishing Limited was founded ...

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 complex in the central business district of Sydney. 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 southern s ...

) * 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 480 Queen Street is a premium grade office tower in Brisbane, Australia located at 480 Queen Street in the Brisbane central business district's golden triangle. The project was designed by BVN Architecture and developed and constructed by G ...

) *

(240 St George's Terrace) *

(

Westpac House RAA Tower (formerly Westpac House, Santos House and State Bank Building, and commonly known as The RAA Building) is an office building in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is a 31-storey office tower, reaching at its roof, with each ...

) *

(85 Macquarie Street)

Notable employees

Sandy Street Alexander "Sandy" Whistler Street, is an Australian federal judge and naval commander, and a scion of the Street family. His father Sir Laurence Whistler Street, grandfather Sir Kenneth Whistler Street and great-grandfather Sir Philip Whi ...

, 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 with jurisdiction over matters broadly relating to family law and child support, ad ...

, 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), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, became a consultant at HWL Ebsworth in 2010. *

Alan Rose Sir Alan Edward Percival Rose was a British barrister and colonial judge. Early life and education Rose was born in London, the son of author Charles Edward Rose. He was educated at Aldenham School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He served in ...

AO, a former public servant, became a consultant at HWL Ebsworth in 2012.

References

{{Authority control Law firms of Australia