Hicks Oakley Chessell Williams

What Hicks Oakley Chessell Williams does

Hicks Oakley Chessell Williams (HOCW) is a privately-held, full-service Melbourne law firm established in 1961, operating from two offices — Melbourne CBD (Level 18, 461 Bourke Street) and Mount Waverley (headquarters). The firm employs 72 team members and is structured as Hicks Oakley Chessell Williams Pty Ltd as Trustee of the HNO Unit Trust, with ownership held by its directors. HOCW delivers legal services across five core practice areas: Commercial Law, Commercial Litigation & Insolvency, Family Law, Property & Conveyancing, and Wills & Estates, serving businesses, families, and individuals across Victoria.

Its core offering is professional legal advice and representation rather than a technology product. Underlying technology consists of standard legal practice tools for document management, client communication, and electronic property settlement via the PEXA digital platform. Specialized expertise is concentrated in Wills & Estates, where multiple practitioners hold Law Institute of Victoria Accredited Specialist status and have been ranked Preeminent in Doyle's Guide for estates litigation across multiple consecutive years (2021–2025).

HOCW operates a sales-led, referral-driven go-to-market model, supplemented by content marketing (blog articles), email newsletters, and organic search presence. Revenue is generated through quote-based professional services fees tied to matter complexity, service type, and practitioner seniority, with clients advised of costs prior to engagement. The firm's customer base is horizontally segmented across SMEs, private clients, property owners/investors, and families/individuals, yielding a distributed, low-concentration revenue mix without disclosed anchor accounts.

Name

Hicks Oakley Chessell Williams

Legal name

Hicks Oakley Chessell Williams Pty Ltd as Trustee of the HNO Unit Trust trading as Hicks Oakley Chessell Williams

Website

https://hocw.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1961

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Hicks Oakley Chessell Williams is a privately-held Melbourne law firm established in 1961, with 72 staff across two offices serving Victorian businesses, families, and individuals across commercial law, litigation, family law, property, and wills & estates.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (54111), Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Family & Private Client (Trusts & Estates) Law (BPAHAAAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Litigation & Dispute Resolution (BPAHAAAB)

Keywords

• Commercial legal services
• Family law advice
• Property conveyancing
• Wills and estates
• Commercial litigation

Headquarters

HQ city

Mount Waverley

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Services Fees: Professional legal services billed to clients for legal advice and representation across commercial law, family law, property law, wills and estates, and litigation matters. Fees are charged based on time spent, matter complexity, and seniority of practitioner.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Hicks Oakley Chessell Williams (HOCW) is a Melbourne-based law firm delivering legal advice and representation across five core practice areas: Commercial Law, Commercial Litigation & Insolvency, Family Law, Property & Conveyancing, and Wills & Estates. The firm serves businesses, families, and individuals throughout Victoria from its Melbourne CBD and Mount Waverley offices, providing senior-led, specialist legal services tailored to client objectives.

Product overview

Hicks Oakley Chessell Williams (HOCW) is a Melbourne-based law firm offering a unified portfolio of legal services across five core practice areas: Commercial Law, Commercial Litigation & Insolvency, Family Law, Property & Conveyancing, and Wills & Estates. The firm operates as a traditional legal services practice rather than a software platform, providing client-facing legal advice and representation through experienced lawyers across offices in Melbourne CBD and Mount Waverley. Each core service area encompasses multiple specialized sub-services (e.g., Commercial Law includes business structuring, commercial agreements, IP, business sales; Wills & Estates includes estate planning, deceased estates, estate litigation, VCAT matters).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Commercial Law Corporate and commercial legal services for SMEs and business owners covering business structuring and governance, commercial agreements, intellectual property and compliance, business sales and purchases, and trusts and superannuation.
• Commercial Litigation & Insolvency Dispute resolution and litigation services for businesses and individuals, including business and contractual disputes, property and leasing disputes, insolvency and bankruptcy, mediation and alternative dispute resolution, domestic building disputes, and franchise dispute resolution.
• Family Law Family law services covering parenting and children's issues, property and financial matters, separation and divorce, personal safety, third-party representation in family law, and alternative dispute resolution for separating families.
• Property & Conveyancing Property law and conveyancing services for buyers, sellers, and investors covering property transactions, leasing, property development and subdivisions, dispute resolution, retirement village and aged care agreements, and loan, mortgage and finance documentation.
• Wills & Estates Wills, estates and elder law services including estate planning, deceased estate administration, estate and trust disputes and litigation, professional administration appointments, VCAT administration and guardianship matters, and succession and retirement planning.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Aitken Partners: Melbourne-based full-service law firm serving individuals, families and SMEs in commercial, property, family and estate matters. Directly comparable to HOCW in size, client segments and Victoria-only focus.
• Holding Redlich: Australian mid-tier firm with offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane offering commercial, property, litigation and private client services. Closely comparable in scale, multi-state footprint and practice mix to HOCW.
• Russell Kennedy: Melbourne-based full-service law firm of similar size with strong wills & estates, family law, commercial and property practices. Comparable in geographic focus (Victoria), practice breadth, and mid-tier positioning to HOCW.
• Lander & Rogers: Australian mid-tier full-service law firm headquartered in Melbourne with offices in Sydney and Brisbane, offering commercial, property, family and dispute resolution services. Directly comparable to HOCW in service mix, mid-market positioning, and multi-office Australian footprint.
• Gadens: Australian mid-tier firm with offices across multiple states offering commercial, property, litigation and private client services. Comparable in scale, practice breadth and multi-state ambition to HOCW.
• Arnold Bloch Leibler: Melbourne-based full-service firm with strong commercial, property, dispute resolution and private client practices. Comparable in high-end mid-tier positioning, Melbourne-centric footprint and emphasis on senior practitioner-led service.
• McCabe Curwood: Australian mid-tier firm with offices in Sydney and Melbourne providing commercial, property and dispute resolution services. Comparable in scale, multi-jurisdictional Australian footprint and practice mix.

Broad incumbents

• Maurice Blackburn: Major Australian law firm with national presence across personal legal services including wills & estates, family law and dispute resolution. Overlaps with HOCW in Wills & Estates and Family Law segments but operates at substantially larger scale.
• Slater and Gordon: Large ASX-listed Australian law firm offering family law, personal injury, wills & estates and dispute resolution services nationally. Comparable in client segments (families, individuals) and several practice areas, but operates at much larger scale with a publicly listed ownership structure.

Emerging players

• Kingston Reid: Specialist employment and workplace relations firm with a strong Victorian presence, overlapping with HOCW's employment law work within its commercial litigation practice. Comparable as a Victorian-headquartered boutique competing in adjacent practice areas.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hocwlawyers
• Facebookfacebook.com/hicksoakleychessellwilliams

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hicks Oakley Chessell Williams