Growing up, Abel Martinez bounced between two very different worlds.
Born in San Benito, a small South Texas city in the Rio Grande Valley, Martinez spent much of his elementary and middle school years in Barrington, a Chicago suburb, as his father’s construction work took the family back and forth.
The frequent moves made Martinez realize how opportunities for children vary by where they live and how education can shape a child’s future. In Barrington, Martinez attended schools equipped with computers and other technology at a time when such resources were uncommon in classrooms.
Decades later, those lessons continue to influence Martinez’s approach to leadership as group vice president of partner relations, risk solutions and government affairs at H-E-B, where he has spent more than 25 years helping shape employment policies and advising company leaders.
“I want people to feel respected, to have someone willing to invest in their development, and to have a fair opportunity to show what they can do,” Martinez said.
Martinez is the recipient of the 2026 San Antonio Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion, presented by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s San Antonio Chapter and The Texas Lawbook. He and the other honorees will be recognized Oct. 29.
Martinez was one of six children — three boys and three girls. While his father worked in construction, his mother, now 94, devoted herself primarily on raising their children.
“We were a close family, and my parents instilled in us the importance of family, hard work and education,” Martinez said.
Martinez’s interest in becoming an attorney began with the television show “The Paper Chase”, a legal drama that follows students navigating the rigors of Harvard Law School. He was fascinated by the intellectual demands of legal education and how students learned to reason through difficult problems.
Martinez went on to graduate summa cum laude from St. Mary’s University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1987 and earned his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center in 1990, becoming the first and only lawyer in his family.
He began his legal career at Jenkens & Gilchrist, where he eventually became a shareholder, handling litigation involving labor and employment disputes and personal injury matters.
Among his clients was H-E-B, the San Antonio-based grocery company he would eventually join.
For 10 years, Martinez represented the retailer in litigation, developing relationships with its leaders and gaining an understanding of its operations and corporate culture.
In 2000, H-E-B approached him about joining its legal department to lead its labor and employment function. After years of representing businesses in litigation, he welcomed the prospect of helping company leaders shape decisions from the beginning and see their impact over time, he said.
“It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” he said.
Today, he counts building H-E-B’s labor and employment department from the ground up among his proudest professional accomplishments. He designed the department with an emphasis on preventing disputes and developing long-term strategies that support employees, whom H-E-B refers to as Partners, and their safety.
Behind every employment decision, he said, is a person and a family. Keeping that perspective central to discussions with company leaders has influenced how he approaches difficult decisions.
Martinez has also helped shape public policy through H-E-B’s federal government affairs work in Washington, D.C., bringing a practical business perspective to discussions affecting its employees, customers and communities.
He said the variety of his responsibilities and the people he works with have kept the job rewarding.
“I have the privilege of working with exceptional leaders and team members who are smart, work hard, and care deeply about others,” Martinez said. “There is also never a boring day. Each day brings new issues and challenges. The challenge is helping leaders make sound, timely decisions while balancing legal obligations, business needs, and the impact on our Partners.”
Some of his most meaningful experiences, however, have come during H-E-B’s disaster relief efforts. H-E-B has been known to deploy mobile kitchens and water tankers, and to donate money in the wake of natural disasters, including last year’s historic flooding in Texas’ Hill Country and during Winter Storm Uri.
Meeting residents affected by those disasters and hearing how the company’s response helped their families has given Martinez a deeper appreciation for the impact of H-E-B’s work.
“Seeing our teams help restore a sense of normalcy is something I will always carry with me,” he said.
Throughout his career, Martinez has remained active in the legal profession and the San Antonio community. He is a past president of the San Antonio Young Lawyers Association and has served on the boards of several charitable organizations, as well as the San Antonio Bar Association.
His professional accomplishments have earned him numerous honors, including the San Antonio Outstanding Young Lawyer Award for 2000-01. The State Bar of Texas’ Texas Minority Counsel Program — now called the Texas Membership Connections Program — honored him with its 2015 Corporate Counsel of the Year Award and its 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Martinez not only fosters an inclusive legal profession by giving attorneys from different backgrounds a seat at the table, said Krishna Reddy of Krishna Reddy Law in San Antonio. Martinez also gives those attorneys meaningful assignments and chances to develop their skills and advance their careers.
Reddy, who has represented H-E-B in personal injury claims, contract disputes and internal issues, said Martinez has made a concerted effort to engage women and minority attorneys and law firms while ensuring that younger lawyers have opportunities to take on significant responsibilities.
Rather than insisting the most senior attorney handle an important argument, Martinez encourages outside counsel to give less experienced lawyers opportunities to appear before appellate courts, including the Texas Supreme Court, Reddy said.
Martinez has also been known to call outside counsel when he’s identified a promising law clerk within H-E-B to encourage them to consider offering that person a summer position, Reddy said, giving the young lawyer exposure to private practice and an opportunity to develop skills from a different perspective.
The importance of creating opportunities for others is rooted in the experiences that shaped his own life, Martinez said.
He understands what it means to enter a profession without a family history in that field, and he remembers how access to educational resources helped open doors that might otherwise have remained closed.
“Becoming the only lawyer in my family has given me a particular appreciation for what it takes to enter a profession that may be unfamiliar to the people around you,” Martinez said.
Click here for a Premium Subscriber Q&A with Martinez, where he shares what he thinks are the biggest challenges today regarding inclusion in the legal profession.
Fun facts
Favorite book: The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court [by Jeffrey Toobin]. I enjoyed its look at the people behind the decisions and how the justices’ backgrounds, personalities and choices influence the direction of the law.
Favorite music group: The Eagles.
Favorite movie: Hoosiers.
Favorite restaurant: Bliss. I love their seafood — it’s consistently fantastic.
Favorite beverage: Wine.
Favorite vacation: Japan with my two sons. It was an amazing trip, and sharing that experience with them made it especially memorable.
Heroes: My dad and Abraham Lincoln. My dad shaped my approach to life. One lesson that has always stayed with me is that there will always be people who are stronger, have more money or have more experience — but no one should outwork you. He taught me to take responsibility for my effort and give my best. I admire Abraham Lincoln for his perseverance and conviction under extraordinary pressure. His willingness to keep going in the face of enormous obstacles, and his lasting impact on our nation, have always inspired me.