Javier Martinez, San Antonio Managing Partner, Haynes Boone
In an interview with Invest:, Javier Martinez, managing partner of Haynes Boone’s San Antonio office, discussed the firm’s momentum. He underscored San Antonio’s importance in cross-border trade and talent development, stating, “San Antonio is poised to continue being a leader in this market.”
What makes San Antonio a strategic location for Haynes Boone, and how does this market differentiate itself?
We’ve been in the San Antonio market for 38 years, and it’s always been an important market for our firm. What makes this region different is the people. It’s not the same type of business environment as places like New York, Charlotte, or Miami. It’s a place where you can come and immediately ingratiate yourself with the local business community at the highest levels because people here are friendly and inviting. It’s part of our culture.
What opportunities are you seeing, and are there any specific sectors or client profiles where you are seeing the most demand for your services?
Like all cities, San Antonio is subject to local, state, and federal legal structures and we’re also subject to macroeconomic trends. Right now, we are expecting more onshoring of data centers and chip manufacturing. Senate Bill 6 in the legislature is going to go a long way in determining how appealing Texas is for these sectors. San Antonio is poised to continue being a leader in this market. The growth in this industry in western Bexar and Medina counties has been phenomenal, and this growth is ready to explode. The legal and regulatory framework that SB6 is going to impose on Texas is just the first step. Locally, we will need to invest in infrastructure and top-notch execution for the experiment to be successful. Our biggest competitors will be other Texas cities, so we need to ensure we have the resources not only for the data centers and chip manufacturers, but for the associated residential and other commercial demands spurred by the associated growth as well. As a corollary matter, we’re excited about the airport expansion, adding 17 gates to the existing 27, which will presumably come with new routes connecting San Antonio to the rest of the world. San Antonio has a lot to offer, but we need to make it easier for people to access it. Speaking to out-of-towners who came for the recent Final Four, the feedback we’re getting has been terrific. The city did an amazing job hosting the Final Four, but the logistics of getting here were a bit complicated for a lot of visitors, especially from the East Coast.
In your cross-border work, are there any legal and regulatory trends affecting the deals you see?
New tariffs are a major focus. Part of my practice is commodities finance, and we are seeing U.S.-based traders adding value for their customers by helping navigate sourcing jurisdictions.
The U.S.’s free trade partners stand to benefit most. The opportunities for Latin American countries to take market share in the United States will be significant, and the city of San Antonio is well-positioned to help facilitate that growth. Our firm has been in Mexico City for 30 years, and we have broad cross-border practices across the firm, so those synergies are going to be important for us as we look toward Latin America as an increased trade partner.
How are your clients responding to the new compliance obligations brought on by the Corporate Transparency Act?
We have a large and diverse client pool at Haynes Boone, so I can’t speak for everyone, but the clients I work with in my practice are, for the most part, banks that have already been subject to this type of reporting compliance and much more stringent requirements for many years. In finance markets, I’ve seen it add considerable regulatory cost to deals in the first part of the 21st century, but those costs seem to have been normalized. Now, these issues are spreading beyond banks.
How are you attracting and retaining top talent for the firm?
One of the biggest challenges for the legal industry in San Antonio is talent acquisition. Haynes Boone does an amazing job at talent retention. I firmly believe this is because of our culture. We count among our ranks many attorneys we refer to as “boomerangs”; attorneys who left the firm then returned after a few years because they realized the grass isn’t greener on the other side of the fence. In terms of talent acquisition, it’s difficult because a lot of our local talent thinks they have to go to Dallas, Houston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc. to be successful. Haynes Boone is proof that you can have a first-rate national or international practice based in San Antonio. One new innovation is that we are leveraging technology to identify high-potential talent that may not have had us, or San Antonio, on their radar initially. The cost of talent recruitment for law firms has always been high, but new technologies allow us to more efficiently and effectively find targets that both meet academic standards as well as being the right cultural fit.
Are there any special partnerships with educational institutions to continue to enhance and support the talent pipeline?
We have extensive connections with many universities, including St. Mary’s here in San Antonio. A few of our partners teach classes at the University of Texas Law School. As an Aggie, Texas A&M Law School in Fort Worth is near and dear to my heart and another focus for the firm. All of our offices across the firm have strong relationships with law schools in and outside their geographic area. We put an emphasis not only at the law school level, but also with high schools and colleges through service and outreach programs. We want the next generation of talent to be aware of the opportunities available and in the best position to seize those opportunities when they arise.
How are you using technology to create efficiencies for your team and better support your clients?
For lawyers, there are ethical rules that will govern how and when we can use technology, especially AI. Data management is one of the key areas where new technology is helping the most. In my career, one trend I have seen is hiring fewer secretaries but adding new staff positions like specialized knowledge management coordinators with industry-specific knowledge. They are helping us manage the immense amount of information gathered and used in the modern practice of law. Internally, we have developed proprietary software that helps us with complex legal projects, often involving tens of thousands of documents. However, there is still a human component, and, as lawyers, we can’t do what we do without our non-lawyer staff. We have assembled an amazing staff across this firm that routinely goes above and beyond what is required, which is again a testament to our culture. Our collaborative, respectful, and accepting culture has formed a close-knit community. My colleagues, lawyers and non-lawyers alike, are my friends. Law firms require long hours and hard work, but it’s a lot easier to do when you can say that.
What is your outlook for the legal landscape in San Antonio, and what are your top priorities for Haynes Boone?
In the last year, in San Antonio, we’ve added lawyers in real estate, intellectual property, and litigation. Compared to historical levels, over the last three years, our firm has promoted a greater number of young lawyers to partnership in the San Antonio office. It’s a testament to the growth of the city and the firm’s commitment to the city and the opportunities here. The influx of young partners and other young lawyers has made it an energetic and exciting place to work, and we plan to leverage that energy and excitement to meet and exceed our current goals and set new goals for the future. I am part of our finance practice group and consider myself fortunate that our firm has been supportive of what we’re trying to do. We’ve had a big emphasis on growing our core finance practice areas, but are also adding significant talent in other finance areas, including leveraged finance, capital markets, and securitizations. More broadly, the firm continues to grow strategically in areas that complement existing firm practices, like the addition of environmental lawyers and new regulatory practices. In the last 20 years, we have doubled in size. In times of economic downturn, we have been successful in finding opportunities that others are not in a position to pursue, which has helped propel our growth.
