ANSLEY WESTBROOK, MEMBER
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 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 is active at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Mt. Lebanon as a Confirmation Class Teacher and participated in a three-year term on the Episcopal Church’s 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.
Professional liability:
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 preliminar
y hearings in City Court and at the District Justice level.
J.D., University of Denver Sturm College of Law, 1995
B.S., Health Services Administration, Ohio University, 1990
Selected To Super Lawyers®: 2008, 2015 – 2020
Selected To Rising Stars: 2005 – 2007
• Pennsylvania
• West Virginia
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
• U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia
