Confident. Unflinching. A Woman of Influence.  Alisha Esselstein 

If you only met Alisha Esselstein in a courtroom, you might think you have her figured out.

Confident. Direct. Unflinching. The kind of attorney who knows her file inside and out and doesn’t waste words.

But outside the courtroom, the powerhouse family law attorney is equally at ease swapping travel stories, planning ski trips, heading to a metal festival, or wrangling four children under the age of eight. And somewhere between rural Wisconsin and constitutional reform in Sri Lanka, Alisha built a life defined by adaptability, advocacy, and an unwavering belief that no one—especially children—should feel boxed in.

“I’m not so scary once you get to know me,” she said with a laugh. “I have a very stereotypical lawyer personality on the front, and so I think people are a little intimidated to approach me. You’ll realize right away I’m not that intimidating once I’m outside of the courtroom. I’m very approachable and very relaxed.”

Relaxed, perhaps. Ordinary? Not even close.

From a town of 800 to the world

Alisha grew up in southwest Wisconsin in a place so small she describes it simply: “It’s literally a village.”

About an hour south of Madison, her hometown had a population of roughly 800 people.

“The cows literally outnumber the people,” she says.

In communities like that, expectations often follow a predictable path: grow up, stay close, build a life much like the one you’ve always known.

But she knew early on that her life would look different.

“That’s great for people who want to do that, but for me, I want to be able to see and experience new things,” she said.

She did far more than see them—she immersed herself in them. Over the years, Esselstein has lived in Kenya, Mexico, Sri Lanka, and London. She once spoke Swahili. She studied human rights at one of London’s top universities. She has litigated at a national level overseas and helped advocate for constitutional reforms in a country recovering from decades of civil war.

And, she has been chased by a rhino.

The Rhino, the Riot, and the Moving Train

Some people collect souvenirs. Alisha collects stories.

In Kenya, while on safari—not in a zoo, but on open terrain—a driver ventured too close to a rhino.

“The rhino started chasing directly at us,” she said. “We had to drive as fast as we could or we were going to get hit, which often means you get rolled over in your vehicle.”

In another moment abroad, she found herself halted in traffic during a political riot.

In Sri Lanka, she jumped onto a moving train—because that’s simply how you board when the cars are packed and the train doesn’t stop long.

Those experiences—along with navigating cultures, languages, and political landscapes—shaped her into someone remarkably adaptable.

“I can walk into really any situation, carry a conversation, do wild and crazy things,” she said. “I can walk into rural Georgia and have no problem, or into any other population town. All these different experiences mean I’m really adaptable to any challenges that come my way.”

That adaptability would serve her well when she returned to the United States and eventually settled in Georgia.

A decade in nonprofit and human rights work

Esselstein attended law school from 2015 to 2018, but her path to family law wasn’t linear.

In law school, she worked with human rights organizations in Sri Lanka and New York, focusing on gender-based violence—at a time when the term centered primarily on harms against women.

“At times of crisis and civil war—domestic violence, financial harm, psychological harm—it focused on females in the context of civil war,” she explained.

She spent roughly ten years in the nonprofit sector, including serving as a director at United Way of the Coastal Empire in Savannah.

Eventually, she joined a Savannah law firm specializing in international family law, a niche that dovetailed perfectly with her global background. International family law arises when families cross borders—when one parent is from another country, when relocation is at stake, or when there are fears of international parental kidnapping.

“We need to have a parenting plan that reflects those issues, as well as the Hague Convention,” she said, referring to the international treaty addressing child abduction.

After gaining experience, she realized she could build her own practice. She has been doing so for the past four years.

Finding Her Purpose in Family Law

When Alisha began law school, she didn’t know she would land in family law. But the consistency in her career has always been advocacy.

Today, her practice focuses on divorce, custody, modifications, and adoption. She also partners closely with agencies serving victims of domestic violence and serves as president and board chair of a local victim advocacy organization.

Many of her clients are women navigating some of the most painful chapters of their lives. But her deepest sense of purpose often centers on children.

Although she rarely meets the children involved in her cases, she feels deeply connected to them.

“It’s almost as if I know these children, because I’m advocating so much for their well-being through their custody,” she said. “If children are in unsafe situations, or if this parent is the better-suited parent, I know their upbringing is going to be stronger with that parent.”

Her favorite moments aren’t about dramatic courtroom victories. They’re about courage.

“My favorite cases are when my clients—often women—take the stand and don’t even stutter, aren’t even shaking, and tell their stories in such a brave, strong manner,” she says. “Even though I’m there advocating for them, they are the ones advocating for themselves.”

When she walks out of the courtroom knowing a child is in a safer, more stable environment, that’s when the exhaustion fades.

“At the end of the day, you feel fulfilled when you know you have those clients you feel strongly about and who are successful,” she says. “They can finally move forward with their life.”

The Art of Persuasion—From Sri Lanka to Georgia

One of Alisha’s unusual chapters involved working on constitutional reform in Sri Lanka following a decades-long civil war.

The conflict had left deep scars, including widespread violence against women. Advocates sought to ensure the country’s constitution reflected protections and realities for women in the aftermath.

As an outsider, she faced inherent challenges.

“I wasn’t successful on everything,” she acknowledges. “One, I was an outsider, so people aren’t going to listen to me all the time.”

Still, the skills she honed there mirror what she does daily in Georgia courtrooms.

“It comes down to what we’re taught in law school,” she says. “I tell the story, and I try to tell it in the most persuasive way for my clients.”

Whether advocating for constitutional language or for a mother seeking custody, the foundation is the same: clarity, empathy, and persuasive storytelling grounded in law.

Motherhood and heavy metal festivals

If Alisha’s résumé suggests nonstop intensity, her personal life reveals a different dimension.

She is a mother of four children—ages eight, six, five, and three.

Between litigating cases, running her own firm, serving on a nonprofit board, and raising young children, her life is, in her words, “pretty busy.”

She travels frequently—sometimes overseas, though not yet with all four children.

“When you have four, that gets a little bit more complicated,” she said.

For now, family trips include Disney and mountain getaways. Where they go isn’t what is important—the important part is just to go and discover the world.

“I want to make sure that they know that they are not in a box,” she says of her children. “That they can do anything that they set their minds to.”

Growing up, some of her interests—like studying Swahili—were met with confusion. People would tell her, “That’s not normal.”

But those “not normal” choices set her apart.

“It’s not normal to litigate at a national level in Sri Lanka … for women’s safety,” she says. “But I did it. I was the only one at my law school to do things such as that.”

She wants her children to understand that there is no single prescribed path.

“They don’t have to go to the same university that I go to,” she said. “They don’t need to follow the same career,” she says. “There’s so many different avenues open to them.”

What’s Next?

For someone who has lived on four continents, argued international law, and built her own practice, the obvious question is: what’s next?

“That’s a big question,” she said after a pause. And one she wasn’t quite ready to answer.

From a village of 800 people to the halls of international reform, from safari scares to Georgia courtrooms, Alisha Esselstein has built a life defined not by geography but by courage—her own and the courage she helps others find.

And if you find her intimidating at first?

Give it a moment.

Once you get to know her, you might just discover that behind the formidable attorney is a woman who jumped onto a moving train, got chased by a rhino, and refuses to let anyone—especially a child—believe their world is small.