Juan Martinez was a force of nature that built the country’s largest legal partnership, HWL Ebsworth, in his own image – the feisty underdog who enjoyed disrupting and taunting the establishment.

Martinez, who died on Monday aged 64 after a suspected heart attack at his home in Melbourne, turned HWLE from a one-office firm with 40 people into a mid-market behemoth with 285 partners and an enviable list of government and corporate clients.