by Julie Lineback
GreenCourt Legal Technologies, a company headed by University of West Georgia alum Bill Esslinger ‘93 that specializes in a statewide electronic filing system for Georgia’s trial courts, was recently presented with the Excellence in Innovation Award by Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle. The award recognizes the individuals, companies, nonprofits and organizations that are revolutionizing products, services and ways of doing things to create a better tomorrow for Georgia.
Left to right: Debbie Esslinger, Michael Holmes, Bill Esslinger, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, Andy Johnson and Ryan Roenigk.
“We are honored to receive this award from Lt. Gov. Cagle,” says Bill, who is also a member of the UWG Foundation Board of Trustees. “GreenCourt is Georgia, through and through. Our company draws from Georgia investment, Georgia talent and Georgia partners. Our success will be accelerated because of our Georgia foundation.”
Bill previously served as the vice president, general counsel and secretary at Greenway Medical Technologies for 14 years. When the company was sold to Vista Equity Partners in fall 2013, he and his wife Debbie Ingle Esslinger ’94 wanted to use their business technology experiences to start a tech law firm whose purpose was providing legal and business advice to start-up companies. Shortly thereafter, he was approached with the opportunity to co-found and invest in GreenCourt as its first president and CEO.
Bill committed himself to GreenCourt for a year and helped create PeachCourt, a single login statewide system that allows attorneys to file documents and process payments online instead of physically going to different courthouses.
“It’s surprising to me that in the state of Georgia, filing in the court systems is predominately done manually,” Bill explains. “Today if you want to answer a lawsuit, you have to send paper to one of 159 different counties. Then you have to send somebody over there to do the filing.”
In its first year alone, 89 Superior Court Clerks across the state and the Council of Superior Court Clerks of Georgia are working with GreenCourt to make eFiling a reality. Combined with the recognition from Lt. Gov. Cagle at such an early stage, Bill believes this is a testament to all that the team has accomplished.
“Since the founding of Carroll County, world-class businesses have grown out of the soil here, retaining our brightest college graduates and establishing financial stability in our communities,” Bill continues. “Like the other industry leaders who call Georgia home, our prosperity is Georgia’s prosperity. It is an honor to be recognized for succeeding in innovation, one of our core values as a company.”
He has agreed to stay with GreenCourt as an outside general counsel, but now will spend the majority of his time doing what he calls his true passion—helping new businesses and tech companies succeed by providing them with quality legal counsel and business connections.
“I am very excited that Esslinger Tech Law is currently working with seven start-ups and tech companies, the majority of which have strong ties to UWG,” Bill concludes. “There are so many great people, ideas and businesses coming out of UWG today, and we love to be a part of helping them take off. Go West and join our booming technology corridor!”
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