Dennis C. McAndrews, Esquire

Founder & Managing Partner Emeritus

Dennis C. McAndrews is the Founder and Managing Partner Emeritus of McAndrews Law Offices, P.C., which he founded in 1982.

Mr. McAndrews regularly represents families and individuals in a variety of areas, including Special Education, Estate Planning, Estate Administration, Special Needs Trusts, Guardianship, Post-Litigation Planning, Personal Injury Settlement Planning, Title IX Representation, Right-to-Treatment cases and Abuse cases. He has developed a national reputation in each of these fields during his 40 year legal career, and has received the highest professional ratings for his competency and ethical standards, as well as multiple awards for representation of vulnerable individuals.

He is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Elder Law Section Council. He served as Executive Director and Staff Counsel to two select committees of the Pennsylvania State Senate which evaluated Pennsylvania’s system of care for persons with disabilities and drafted proposed legislation designed to modernize Pennsylvania’s legal basis for the provision of care to the intellectually disabled.

Mr. McAndrews served for fifteen years as a Special Education Hearing Officer for the Pennsylvania Department of Education. He was selected to serve as one of the first special education appellate hearing officers in Pennsylvania. During his seventeen years as a prosecutor in the Philadelphia area, and thereafter in criminal defense matters, he handled many major cases, and was a special prosecutor in the murder trial of Commonwealth vs. John E. duPont.

Mr. McAndrews is an instructor of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Criminal Justice at Villanova University. He served for a decade as Chairman of the Disability Law Committee of the Delaware County Bar Association.

In 2019, Dennis was awarded the Villanova University Law Alumni Award for Excellence, only the third time in the history of the University that this Award has been granted.

Mr. McAndrews is the playwright and actor of a one-man play “If JFK Survived Dallas” in which he acts as President Kennedy as an elder statesman. He has presented the play for several years at theaters including the Kennedy Summer School in Ireland, in Texas on the 50th anniversary of the death of President Kennedy, and in multiple venues across the East Coast, including Washington DC, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina.

Mr. McAndrews serves as a legal and political commentator for court cases and political issues for national and local broadcast and print media. He has worked with several major networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, The New York Times, Associated Press, The Washington Post, The LA Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and more.

Legal Experience

1982 – Present: Founder and Managing Partner Emeritus of McAndrews Law Offices, P.C., 30 Cassatt Avenue, Berwyn, Pennsylvania 19312

1989 – 2015: Instructor of law courses, Political Science Department and Public Policy Department; Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania

1990 – Present: Commentator – Legal and Political, Periodic commentator for court cases and political issues for national and local broadcast and print media

1989 – 1995: Special Education Hearing Officer, Office of Dispute Resolution, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

1996-1997: Special Prosecutor in Commonwealth v. John E. duPont

1990 – 1995: Deputy District Attorney in charge of Law and Appeals Unit, Office of the District Attorney of Delaware County, Pennsylvania

1990 and 1995: Pennsylvania Special Education Due Process Appeals Panel

1989 – 1990: Deputy District Attorney in charge of Special Prosecutions Unit, Office of the District Attorney of Delaware County, Pennsylvania

1984 – 1993: Instructor of law courses, Politics and History Department, Immaculata College, Immaculata, Pennsylvania

1980 – 1989: Assistant District Attorney in the Trial and Law and Appeals Units, Office of the District Attorney of Delaware County, Pennsylvania

1982 – 1983: Staff Counsel to two Pennsylvania State Senate Select Committees evaluating Pennsylvania’s care for the intellectually disabled (via five month leave from Office of District Attorney, followed by part-time service with the Committees)

1979 – 1980: Assistant District Attorney, Office of the District Attorney of the City of Philadelphia, Trial and Appeals Divisions

1978: Instructor of International Law and Human Rights, Immaculata College

1978: Instructor of Business Law, Drexel University

1977-1978: Research Assistant, Villanova School of Law

1977: Research Assistant, American Law Institute

Education

Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, Juris Doctor, 1978
- Admitted to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, October 1978
- Honors: Winner, Reimel Moot Court Competition; Quarterfinalist, Region III, National Moot Court Competition; Outstanding Young Men of America Organization.
Villanova University, B.S. (Education), (cum laude) May,1975
- Graduated first in this major
Villanova University, B.A. (Political Science), (cum laude) May, 1975
- Honors: Pi Sigma Alpha National Honor Society; Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society; Disciplinary Review Board; Dean’s List every semester
- Villanova University Activities: Political Union; Pre-Law Society; Student Pennsylvania State Education Association; Intramural Sports.

Honors & Affiliations

Recipient of The Golden Melmark Hero Award, 2021
Recipient of The Award For Excellence of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Alumni Association, 2019
Recipient of The Francesco A. Mascaro Citizenship Award Presented by the Arc Alliance, 2014
Selected, Super Lawyers® (2004 – present)
Possesses the prestigious Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating, which is the highest possible ranking for professional skill and ethical standards as rated by attorney-peers
Selected as Main Line Today Top Lawyers, 2024
Selected as Top Lawyers in Chester County, The Daily Local, 2023 and 2024
Featured Business of the Week – Dennis McAndrews, McAndrews Law Offices, P.C., ThePatch.com, 2013
Business of the Year Award, Devon Berwyn Business Association, 2010
The First Judicial District Pro Bono Honor Role Award
The ARC of Delaware County Founders Award
The ARC of Montgomery County Advocacy Award
Guest legal analyst on The American Law Journal, a weekly, prime-time legal talk program airing regionally on the Philadelphia CNN-News affiliate WFMZ-TV to Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware and nationally on online platforms
Board of Directors, Mother’s Home (Residential shelter for homeless pregnant women) (2006 to present)
Board of Directors, FLITE (Foundation to support needy students in Tredyffrin/Easttown School District) (2006 to present)
Office of Dispute Resolution, Stakeholders’ Council (2008 to present)
National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (2001 to present)
Exceptional Children Committee, Pennsylvania Bar Association (1991 to present)
Disability Law Committee, Delaware County Bar Association (1995 to present)
Past President, Delaware County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
Pro Bono services on an ongoing basis to persons and organizations in need, including start-up consultative services to several non-profit organizations
Chairperson, Committee on Abuse and Harassment, St. Katharine’s Parish, (Summer 2002)
Board of Directors, ARC Community Trust of Pennsylvania, (2000 to 2007)
Board of Directors, Community Legal Services of Delaware County, (1999-2005)
Coach, Youth Basketball Leagues
Office of Dispute Resolution, Stakeholders’ Council (2008 to 2017)
National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (2001 to Present)
Elder Law Committee, Pennsylvania Bar Association (2009 to Present)
Dennis McAndrews, IMBD