Jeffrey R. Ansel

My Approach

As a new and impressionable lawyer some 30 years ago, a senior partner at my firm, who was not a litigator, told me that to be a successful litigator, I had to “know the deal.” He was right. A litigator who “processes” a matter through the usual cookie-cutter assembly line style of litigating does the client no service. At Winthrop & Weinstine, I learned the importance of building a strategy around the details of the client’s business and the realities of the transaction at issue. I visit the client’s office and facility to see first-hand how things are done and to learn what the business looks like and feels like in a tactile way. Once I know the business, I can guide the client on the strategies that need to be pursued to resolve the dispute, or even how to avoid one. I work with clients – not above them – to make sure every course of action fits their business goals.  I consider myself a member of the client’s “team,” and work collaboratively to resolve their matters.

My practice over the years has touched many areas, from securities fraud defense to real estate and title insurance disputes. I have represented financial institutions and their officers and directors in matters involving the FDIC and other regulators, and have foreclosed mortgages and managed “bet the company” cases. Most recently, I had the pleasure of working on a committee to rewrite Minnesota’s receivership laws, and as a result of that experience now have many clients whom I represent as court-appointed receivers. I work with real estate management companies, turnaround management companies, and financial institutions in high level consulting and litigation matters, as well as strategic decision making.