Michael T. Esquivel

Esquivel knows what it takes to be successful: his family runs La Flor de Mexico, a well-known food production company in Southern California.

“I grew up in this entrepreneurial eco system,” he said. “It really is the underpinning of my practice.”

He provides legal counsel to emerging and high-growth companies, most of which focus on digital health, consumer technology, social networking, software and cloud computing industries.

Esquivel describes himself as “a technologist trapped in a lawyer’s body.”

The partner at Fenwick & West said clients come to the firm with goals and often transform into companies “that fundamentally change how the world works.”

“Our companies like to move at warp speed,” he said. “Part of the art in my job is to make sure we’re looking at all the angles. The challenge is making sure we’re analyzing issues and thinking about, ‘What are the implications down the line?’”

Negotiating and structuring strategic transactions are two things Esquivel does very well. Seed and venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, corporate reorganizations and debt financings are some of the types of matters he handles.

“Fundamentally, I like being an extended part of the team,” Esquivel said.

With Esquivel’s legal advice, San Francisco-based Omada Health Inc. raised $73 million in a funding round. The capital raise, announced in June, was led by Wellington Management Company LLP.

Omada has been “one of the most inspiring missions I have the privilege of working with,” Esquivel said, adding that the company’s recent capital raise was, “a validation of the potential of their technology.” Calm.com Inc., which offers sleep mediation and relaxation remedies through a phone app, relied on Esquivel for counsel in its $88 million Series B financing announced in February. He praises Calm for empowering people to find ways to relax “when we’re dealing with a multitude of crises.”

Esquivel also represented Hippo in its $100 million in Series D financing. A California native, Esquivel earned his J. D. from Columbia University School of Law, along with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University. Esquivel said he can’t imagine practicing any other law.

“For me, every day can be an exciting day,” he added.

— Karen Weil