Wagner Oehler, Ltd

Focus and practice areas

This is a Minnesota law firm that works mostly with families, farmers, and business owners. Its practice covers estate planning, probate and estate administration, agriculture and farm law, business law, and real estate. The estate side includes wills, trusts, probate, and guardianship and conservatorship. That mix points to a firm built around the everyday legal needs of people who own land, run a business, or want to plan for what happens to both.

Farm and business succession planning is a large part of the work. The attorneys also handle the buying, selling, and financing of real estate and business interests. In my opinion the combination is a natural one for the area the firm serves, where a family farm and a family business are often the same asset passed between generations.

History and where the firm works

The firm has provided legal services since its founding in 1973. It runs four offices in southeastern Minnesota: the main office in Rochester, plus locations in St. Charles, Winona, and Lake City. That spread lets it reach clients in Rochester, Winona, St. Charles, and the smaller rural communities around them.

For a part of the state with a lot of agricultural land and closely held businesses, four offices is a practical way to stay near the people who use the firm. As a reviewer, I read the multiple locations as a sign the firm wants to keep local access rather than concentrate everything in one city.

How the team is built

The firm lists eight attorneys. Jason Wagner is President and Owner, and his practice covers real estate, estate planning, farm succession planning, business law, and probate and trust administration. Alyssa Jerde is the Managing Attorney and Vice President, and she works across estate planning, probate, trust and estate administration, farm succession planning, business law, and real estate. William Oehler, one of the founders, is now retired.

The wider group of attorneys

Jennifer Gumbel handles real estate, probate, and estate planning, with an emphasis on international estate planning, and she presents often at continuing legal education sessions. Melissa Saunders focuses on estate and trust administration and estate planning; she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Carleton College in 2001. Jennifer Shabel works in estate planning, business law, and probate and trust administration, and she often advises small business owners.

Cole Tousignant worked mainly in real estate law before moving into private practice, and his focus now includes real estate, estate planning, and farm succession plans. Judi Wilson has practiced for twenty-five years in estate planning and charitable giving, along with trust and estate administration. The firm also keeps paralegals and support staff alongside its attorneys.

A concentration in estate and farm planning

Read across the attorney list and one pattern is clear: most of the attorneys work in estate planning, probate, and trust and estate administration. Judi Wilson has spent twenty-five years on estate planning and charitable giving. Alyssa Jerde, Jennifer Shabel, and Jason Wagner all list estate planning among their main areas. That depth matters for work like probate, where a case can outlast the person who started it and needs more than one lawyer who knows the file.

Farm succession planning appears in several of the same bios, which lines up with the firm's agriculture and farm law practice. For a farm owner thinking about who takes over the land, that means the estate plan and the succession plan can be drawn by people who handle both. The firm also does the real estate and financing work that a farm or business transfer usually involves.

What the record shows

The attorneys belong to the Minnesota State Bar Association, the Olmsted County Bar Association, and the Rochester Estate Planning Council. Membership in an estate planning council fits a firm that puts so much weight on wills, trusts, and estate administration. Before he retired, William Oehler prepared thousands of estate plans and helped administer hundreds of estates. He also guided farm clients through their planning.

Who the firm is a fit for

Someone with farmland to pass on, a small business to plan around, or an estate to settle would find a firm here that spends most of its time on exactly those questions. The overlap between real estate, farm law, and estate work means one office can often handle a matter that touches all three. In my opinion that continuity is worth something to a client who would rather not line up a separate lawyer for each piece.

The firm has stayed in the same corner of Minnesota for more than fifty years, and its named attorneys carry the day to day work across its offices. For families and business owners in the Rochester area who want local counsel on planning, property, and succession, it reads as a steady and clear choice.