Hopkins explains why he seeks to ‘honour the past by driving the future’
At the close of April, HWLE announced a new single-CEO leadership model that would have Kris Hopkins at the firm’s helm. Hopkins, who had served as co-CEO alongside Russell Mailler after the passing of then-managing partner Juan Martinez in 2024, told Australasian Lawyer that this represents “a new and exciting era” for the firm.
“The move to a single CEO leadership model is seen as a natural progression for the firm”, he explained. “Under this new model, my responsibilities have expanded to now include strategy, growth, governance and operations. It is a move to a more traditional corporate model”.
The model, he added, would underpin the growth and momentum being felt by the firm over the 2026 financial year. In this time, HWLE has surpassed expectations with regard to key growth, clients and people goals.
“Since I was appointed CEO, I've really looked to honour the past by driving the future. We have a modern operating model, and it's important we anchor the firm to our core pillars of merit, transparency and authenticity as we enter into this new phase”, Hopkins told Australasian Lawyer.
The firm underwent a consolidation year after Martinez’s death; for Hopkins, it was a point in time that would stay with him and others who were with the firm at this time. And it was an event that he said would serve as a “fork in the road moment” for HWLE.
“I'm really proud of the firm for turning in, for the support that everyone showed each other, for the care and empathy. It really galvanised our firm and taught us what was really important, and that's our people. It's about caring for each other, it's about looking after our clients and it's about setting the firm up for sustained success”, Hopkins told Australasian Lawyer.
In FY2026, staff engagement became a key focus for HWLE. Hopkins said the firm’s learning and development program went through “a transformational change” that drove robust staff retention rates and high levels of graduate applications.
Moreover, the firm has developed nine learning and development programs in the past two years that invite the participation of employees and partners. Under these programs, over 150 workshops have been conducted in the past 12 months with the focus of accelerating the careers of their people.
He indicated that the firm was launching an employee value proposition to the market; moreover, it has activated a transparent, structured performance bonus to reward qualified employees who fully meet their KPIs.
“We want to create an environment where everyone feels they can be the best version of themselves. We want to set people up for sustained success because for us, we believewe're stronger through connection and being together”, Hopkins told Australasian Lawyer. “That investment in our people is turbocharging the growth of the firm and allowing us now to stretch ourselves at a much more accelerated rate than we otherwise thought 12 months ago”.
