Will Esser is the chair of Parker Poe’s Financial Services Industry Team. His practice focuses primarily on commercial litigation, bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, foreclosures, loan workouts, and loan sales. He has successfully represented lenders, loan servicers, landlords, municipal governments, creditors’ committees, receivers, and investment companies in federal and state court lawsuits, bankruptcies, arbitrations, and restructurings. His areas of particular emphasis include disputes involving loans, real estate, leases, mortgage servicing, title insurance, retail banking, and Ponzi/fraud schemes. He was an initial drafter of the North Carolina Commercial Receivership Act.
Will is admitted to the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Fourth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits, as well as each of the federal district and bankruptcy courts in North Carolina. Will is certified by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission (NCDRC) as a Superior Court mediator. Prior to joining Parker Poe, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable Paul J. Kelly on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Will is a passionate believer in pro bono work and is a member of Parker Poe’s Pro Bono Committee. Much of Will’s pro bono practice is focused on appellate advocacy, including filing amicus briefs in First Amendment cases before the United States Supreme Court and representing abused and neglected children in dozens of appeals before the North Carolina Supreme Court and North Carolina Court of Appeals through the Guardian ad Litem program. Will served as chair of the Pro Bono Committee from 2013 through 2017, during which time he and the firm were recognized through the following awards:
- 2014 NC Bar Association Large Law Firm of the Year Pro Bono Award
- 2014 Mecklenburg County Bar’s Outstanding Collaborative Project Pro Bono Award (in conjunction with Duke Energy and Legal Aid)
- 2016 Outstanding Individual Pro Bono Service Award (Legal Aid of North Carolina)
- 2017 NC Bar Association William Thorp Award (individual award for attorney who has presented exemplary pro bono legal services to low-income North Carolinians)