William G. Esslinger, Jr.
Founder & Managing Member
Mr. Esslinger is a seasoned business executive and attorney who focuses on corporate, technology, and digital health law. For more than 20 years, he has been representing digital health companies and investors in mobile health (mHealth), health information technology (HIT), electronic health records (EHR), wearable devices, remote patient monitoring, virtual care, and telehealth, including, specifically, telemedicine, teletherapy treatment, telehealth in chronic disease, and telehealth reimbursement, technology, and infrastructure.
Mr. Esslinger founded Esslinger Tech Law in 2013 to provide legal and business advice to technology and digital health companies in all phases of the corporate lifecycle. From start-up to high-growth and sustained-growth companies, from initial funding to exits, representing both public and private companies, his expertise is broad. He uses his experience to help technology companies and investors in any space and phase of growth. Mr. Esslinger handles all legal and compliance matters, including corporate transactions and finance activities as well as closing deals, optimizing contracts, and providing counsel to sales teams to improve closure rate and timeframe.
Mr. Esslinger is Chairman and General Counsel of EHR Express, a company that provides data migration and archiving solutions.
Mr. Esslinger has served since 2014 as CEO, General Counsel, and as a member of the Board of Directors of Fogo Data Centers, a southeastern U.S. company providing IT infrastructure and expertise to businesses. Bill's experience in guiding technology companies through growth stage acceleration is timely for Fogo. As business IT, MSP, legal, litigation support, and digital health marketplaces are moving quickly to cloud services, Fogo's personalized approach places it on the cusp of explosive growth.
In 2014, Mr. Esslinger co-founded GreenCourt Legal Technologies, serving as its first President & CEO. He led the company through initial formation and funding, defining company strategy, building out initial management and internal teams, securing the first contracts and commitments from courts, selecting technology, developing the software product, and establishing the initial brand, marketing, and PR approaches.
From 1999-2014, Mr. Esslinger served as Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary of Greenway Medical Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: GWAY) for 15 years. He was responsible for all activities related to compliance with federal and state laws pertaining to Greenway operating as a privately held corporation and then a publicly traded company, as well as those relating to security and privacy of patient health information, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Mr. Esslinger led the legal team managing all aspects of contracts and a patent portfolio of dozens of patents and pending patents. He advised the company’s board of directors and management through six rounds of private financing and an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, raising in excess of $150 million in the aggregate, as well as the successful $644 million acquisition by Vista Equity Partners in November 2013. Mr. Esslinger also negotiated and closed over $50 million in debt over his 15-year career at Greenway, where he managed a team of 25 inside and outside lawyers.
Among his community involvement, Mr. Esslinger is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of West Georgia Foundation and serves on its executive committee and as Chairman of its Resource Development Committee. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the UWG Athletic Foundation and serves on its executive committee and as Chairman of its Audit and Finance Committee. He is Moderator and former Trustee, Chairman of the Finance Committee and Co-Chairman of the Journey in Faith stewardship campaign at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Carrollton, Georgia. Mr. Esslinger is a committed, devoted family man. He and his wife Debbie have been married since 1994 and have three children. He is an avid runner, completing six marathons, including 3 World Majors.
Mr. Esslinger is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of Georgia. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of West Georgia and his Juris Doctorate from the Georgia State University College of Law.
Diane C. Nesson
Of Counsel
Diane Nesson is an attorney focusing on securities regulation, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and healthcare regulations.
Mrs. Nesson serves as an Instructor at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where she teaches business law to students at the Miller College of Business.
Prior to teaching at Ball State, Mrs. Nesson was the associate general counsel at Greenway Medical Technologies, Inc., where she assisted Mr. Esslinger in ensuring Greenway’s compliance with securities laws as a publicly traded company and preparing securities documents required by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Stock Exchange. She also assisted Mr. Esslinger in Greenway’s acquisition by Vista Equity Partners.
Prior to joining Greenway Medical Technologies, Inc., Mrs. Nesson was an associate at the Atlanta office of Paul Hastings LLP, where she focused on securities and corporate matters, including initial public offerings, mergers, acquisitions, securities filings, debt offerings, and corporate governance.
Mrs. Nesson is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the Academy of Legal Studies in Business. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Cornell University, where she graduated magna cum laude, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Georgia School of Law, where she graduated summa cum laude.
Debbie Esslinger
President
With more than 20 years of technology experience, Mrs. Esslinger leads the firm’s software lifecycle and digital presence consulting practice.
Debbie Esslinger is a co-founder of Esslinger Tech Law. She uses her background in software engineering, management and leadership, and business process improvement to assist clients with needs in those areas. She also provides expertise in healthcare information technology.
Mrs. Esslinger also currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors at Fogo Data Centers.
In 2014, Mrs. Esslinger assisted in establishing GreenCourt Legal Technologies. She served as its initial Executive Vice President, where she was responsible for company cohesion, quality, and adherence to mission, as well as assisting in selection of technology platform and development team resources.
Prior to GreenCourt, Mrs. Esslinger was a Vice President at Greenway Medical Technologies, Inc., serving in a variety of roles in her 10+ years, beginning with development of the initial version of Greenway’s electronic medical record. Debbie is an inventor named on two patents for Greenway (US7716072 and US8050938). She also built and led teams of people and supporting technology systems and processes to continually engage end users in product development and improvement.
Prior to working at Greenway, Mrs. Esslinger was a Research Scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, where she designed, developed, and tested software systems in electronic defense and modeling and simulation domains.
Prior to GTRI, Mrs. Esslinger began her career at AT&T Advanced Software Construction Center in Cary, NC, where she tested telecommunications software systems and participated in software process improvement activities.
Mrs. Esslinger serves or has served as a community volunteer through Tabernacle Baptist Church, Midway Church, the Carrollton City School system, the University of West Georgia College of Science & Mathematics, and Carroll County CASA.
Mrs. Esslinger earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of West Georgia and Master of Science degree from Georgia Institute of Technology, both in Computer Science.
