Mountain View, CA (January 31, 2014)– Fenwick & West is pleased to announce that partner Michael Esquivel has been named among the Top 20 Under 40 in California by the Daily Journal. Michael was selected out of 672 nominations the Daily Journal received this year from lawyers across California. Published annually, the list seeks to honor emerging leaders in the legal industry.
A partner on Fenwick’s start-ups and venture capital team, Michael provides strategic counseling to emerging and high growth companies from their formation through their corporate governance, equity, employment and intellectual property needs. A well-known figure in digital health, Michael represents clients in the burgeoning new healthcare IT industry at the intersection of healthcare and technology.
"Health care is a $2.8 trillion business, and a lot of entrepreneurs want to focus their energy and efforts around disrupting the health industry," Michael told the Daily Journal. "It's all about creating compelling user experiences."
The profile features Michael’s work for his long-time client HealthTap, most recently taking the company through a $24 million Series B financing, “one of the most substantial Series B investments to date in the digital health industry,” according to FierceMobileHealthcare.
"Rather than get static information on the Web, you can go on HealthTap and ask questions and get answers from doctors who are vetted and in good standing," Michael told the Daily Journal. "You can engage with the doctors in real time."
Last year, Michael also took his client Quixey through a $50 million Series C financing led by China-based Alibaba Group.
"While institutional investors are focused on the financial upside in their returns,” Michael explained, “with strategic investors, there is equally a component where they are looking for complementary technology to benefit their underlying business."
The financing was covered extensively by the media, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, former Wall Street Journal blog AllThingsD and VentureBeat, among others.
"App and mobile search is where the future is heading,” Michael said. “Currently, it's where Web search was in the 1990s.”
“We're increasingly going to access information through apps on smart phones and tablets, fueling the rise of platforms like Quixey,” he added.
The Daily Journal also recognizes Michael’s ongoing work with leading digital health incubator Rock Health, both as their outside counsel and directly with their portfolio companies. Identifying an unmet need for capital and resources within digital health, Michael leads Fenwick’s partnership with Rock Health and its incubator program. Michael personally makes himself available for office hours where he provides incubator companies with one-on-one mentoring. He also supports the companies’ grant writing and company application review, teaches legal workshops and provides office space for meetings and events.
Michael was also profiled in The Recorder in January for his work with emerging and high growth companies.
About Fenwick & West
Fenwick & West provides comprehensive legal services to ground-breaking technology and life sciences companies at every stage of their lifecycle. We craft innovative, cost-effective and practical solutions for established and emerging companies on issues ranging from venture capital, public offerings, joint ventures, M&A and strategic relationships, to intellectual property, litigation and dispute resolution, taxation, antitrust, and employment and labor law. For more than four decades, Fenwick has helped some of the world's most recognized companies become and remain market leaders.