Ansley is a member of OGC Law, LLC. Ansley is a commercial litigator who represents licensed professionals in a variety of state and federal venues including the defense of malpractice claims in civil court; disciplinary actions in administrative tribunals; and white collar criminal charges arising out of the diversion of narcotics from the workplace. Ansley works tirelessly for his clients and believes in aggressive advocacy and developing a genuine and trusting relationship with each client. He has 25 years of litigation and trial experience including more than a decade as an equity partner at a full service national law firm, and occupying a position as an ethics and loss prevention partner within the office of general counsel. He served for six years as a Hearing Committee Member with the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He began his legal career as a prosecutor at the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office trying over a hundred cases to verdict. While in law school he clerked for the Colorado Attorney General’s Office in Denver and the Native American Rights Fund in Boulder. Ansley believes in service and giving back to the community. He was a Confirmation Class Teacher (2013-2020) at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Mt. Lebanon and served on the Episcopal Diocese Constitution and Canons Committee. He is a Board Member of the Cultural Trust’s Three Rivers Arts Festival, a volunteer with Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers and a prior member of the Strengthening Communities Partnership of the Allegheny Conference. Advocacy, service and value are the touchstones of his life and his legal practice.

Representative Matters

Professional liability:

• Intellectual Property: Defended law firm in litigation alleging damages in excess of $1,000,000 filed in Pennsylvania (Allegheny County).  Plaintiffs alleged that the Firm committed malpractice in the prosecution of a patent for an infrared microscope.
• Corporate Transaction and Litigation: Defended law firm in litigation alleging damages in excess of $20,000,000 filed in Pennsylvania (Blair County).  Plaintiff claimed that the Firm failed to properly draft manufacturing and distribution agreements, failed to properly advise how to avoid breaches of the agreements, failed to properly prosecute underlying litigation, and had a conflict of interest throughout the representation.
• Corporate Transaction: Defended law firm in litigation alleging damages in excess of $2,000,000 filed in Pennsylvania (Allegheny County).  Plaintiffs alleged that the Firm had a non-waivable conflict of interest, committed malpractice in structuring the sale of corporate interests and negligently exposed corporate and personal assets to liability for ongoing debt obligations.
• Corporate Transaction and Drafting Agreements: Defended law firm in litigation filed in Pennsylvania (Allegheny County).  Plaintiffs alleged that the Firm negligently drafted an Operating Agreement pertaining to a real estate project.
• Corporate and Tax Advice: Defended large law firm in litigation alleging damages in excess of $50,000,000 filed in Pennsylvania (Allegheny County).  Plaintiffs filed individual and derivative malpractice and misrepresentation claims arising out of the sale of a company, tax advice and alleged transferee liability to the IRS.
• Estate and Tax Planning: Defended law firm in litigation alleging damages in excess of $2,000,000 filed in Pennsylvania (Allegheny County).  Plaintiff alleged that the Firm had a conflict of interest and failed to protect his substantial personal estate during marital estate planning.
• Trust and Estates: Defended sole practitioner in litigation filed in Pennsylvania (Bucks County Orphans Court).  Plaintiffs/Objectors alleged that the attorney committed legal malpractice in converting a trust to a unitrust contrary to the Pennsylvania Uniform Principal and Income Act and improperly managing it on a total return basis.
• Defamation: Defended law firm in response to a complaint alleging defamation of a former client.
• Defamation: Defended sole practitioner in litigation in West Virginia (Mercer County).  Plaintiff alleged that counsel defamed him in underlying litigation.
• Criminal Defense: Defended law firm in litigation filed in Pennsylvania (Allegheny County).  Plaintiff filed malpractice claims arising out of representation in a criminal case involving the expenditure of public monies for potential campaign activities by the House Republican Caucus.
• Domestic Relations Litigation: Defended law firm in litigation filed in Pennsylvania (Westmoreland County) arising out of domestic relations litigation.
• Litigation: Tortious Interference with Contractual Relations: Defended law firm in litigation filed in Pennsylvania (Westmoreland County).  Plaintiff alleged that the Firm intentionally interfered with his client relationships in complex litigation involving several homeowners associations, a developer and a residential development.
• Litigation-Coverage: Provided coverage opinions to international insurer arising out of litigation filed in Pennsylvania (Eastern District).  Underlying complex litigation involved RICO claims and third-party funding.
• Litigation-Coverage: Defended coverage litigation against international Insurer filed in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia County).  Litigation involved failed notice of a claim arising out of a disciplinary proceeding.
• Litigation-Coverage: Defended coverage and bad faith litigation against international Insurer of law firm filed in Pennsylvania (Bucks County).  Case arose out of insurer’s denial of coverage for defense and indemnity in a lawsuit based upon failure to provide timely notice pursuant to a claims made policy.
• Litigation-Administration Appeal: Defended law firm in litigation filed in West Virginia (Mercer County).  Plaintiff alleged that his attorney missed a deadline for filing an appeal of the denial of Social Security Benefits.

Professional Licensure and Criminal Defense: Often disciplinary actions arise out of criminal cases involving the diversion of narcotics from the workplace.  Health care professionals are increasingly vulnerable to substance use disorders for a variety of reasons.  Attorneys have one of the highest rates of the intemperate use of alcohol of all professions.  Health care professionals and attorneys often suffer from mental health conditions that are not diagnosed and remain untreated until a workplace intervention occurs.  These conditions manifest themselves in various forms.  Errors and mistakes at work often lead to the filing of felony criminal charges and disciplinary actions taken by the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board against attorneys and the various licensing boards against health care professionals.  Ansley has represented professionals for the past 20 years in criminal court and before these respective Boards.  He has defended criminal cases in numerous counties in Western Pennsylvania, including Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Erie, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Jefferson, Lawrence, McKean, Mercer, Somerset, Warren, Washington and Westmoreland.  He has also successfully defended Orders to Show Cause and Petitions for Appropriate Relief before the Dental, Medical, Nursing and Pharmacy Boards and in some instances, avoided administrative hearings altogether by negotiating DMU and VRP Consent Agreements.

Federal and State Litigation: For the past fifteen years Ansley represented a national insurer defending bad faith and breach of contract lawsuits in federal and state court.  For the past twenty years, he has represented corporations and individuals in litigation in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.  His experience is extensive and resulted in precedential and non-precedential opinions dating back to the Lockhart v. State Farm case in the Western District of Pennsylvania.  See 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12992 (W.D. Pa Feb. 16, 2010), aff’d 410 F. App’x 484 (3d Cir. 2011).  With over 100 cases litigated, he has the experience to successfully navigate any venue or forum and aggressively prosecute or defend the interests his clients. 

Criminal Prosecution: Ansley was an Assistant District Attorney with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office from 1996 to 1999.  During his time as a prosecutor, he tried over 100 cases in the Court of Common Pleas in addition to presenting countless numbers of preliminary hearings in City Court and at the District Justice level.

Professional Affiliations/Community Involvement

• The Cultural Trust, Three Rivers Arts Festival, Board Member
• Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, Volunteer
• St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Confirmation Class Teacher (2013 – 2020)
• Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, Constitution and Canons Committee Member (2020 to present; 2014 – 2017)
• Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Hearing Committee Member (2012 – 2018)
• Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Strengthening Communities Partnership Working Group (2015 – 2020)

Presentations

• “Through the Looking Glass: The Legacy of Florence Nightingale in the Time of Covid: Vaccine Mandates, Exemptions, Termination, Staffing Shortages, Diversion and Criminal Prosecutions” Presenter, National Organization of Alternative Programs (NOAP), Alburquerque, NM, May 18, 2022
• “Non-Profit Board of Directors: Legal Duties and Responsibilities” Presenter, Non-Profit Boards, Carlisle, Pa, 2019
• “Workplace Diversion: Legal Considerations for Employers and Employees” Presenter, Appalachian Addiction & Prescription Drug Abuse Conference with West Virginia Restore, Charleston, WV, October 22 and 23, 2016
• “Legal Anatomy of Addiction and Diversion: A View from the Attorney” Presenter, National Organization of Alternative Programs (NOAP) Annual Conference, San Diego, California, March 24 – 28, 2014
• “Defense of the Health Care Practitioner: Sex, Drugs and Professional Licensure” Faculty Member, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Mechanicsburg, Pa, December 10, 2014
• “Legal Anatomy of Addiction and Diversion: A View from the Attorney” Presenter, Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA), Bedford Springs, Pa, 2009