Joseph E. McGettigan

Joseph McGettigan, III has entered private practice with McAndrews Law Offices following his successful prosecution of serial child abuser, Jerry Sandusky. At the McAndrews firm, Mr. McGettigan will work primarily in cases involving crime victims in organizational or institutional settings, whether in youth organizations, religious groups or facilities, and will include the abuse and bullying of children, the disabled, and the elderly.  McGettigan has had a long and notable career as a prosecutor, serving as First Assistant District Attorney in both Delaware County and Philadelphia, as well as a Chief Deputy in the Attorney General’s Office, and as an Assistant United States Attorney.  In each of those roles, McGettigan tried a wide variety of cases, mostly murder and child abuse.

Mr. McGettigan and Dennis McAndrews worked closely in 1996 and 1997 as co-prosecutors for then-District Attorney Patrick Meehan, in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, in the celebrated trial of multi-millionaire John duPont for the murder of Olympic gold medal wrestler David Schultz.  duPont’s insanity defense was rejected by the jury and he was convicted of murder.  He was sentenced to up to 30 years in prison and died in jail in 2011.

McGettigan’s background includes a year-long deployment to Iraq where he worked in a U. S. Department of Justice/State Department program to help re-establish a criminal justice system after the fall of Saddam Hussein.  He has also served in private industry, having worked as a consultant and manager for Vance International, a prominent private security company based in Washington, D.C., and for Bochco Media, in Hollywood, as an attorney-consultant for major network television productions focusing on criminal law.

 

Education:

• Temple University, summa cum laude in English literature
• University of San Diego School of Law

Honors & Affiliations:

• Temple University, Phi Beta Kappa
• 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

Bar Admissions:

• Pennsylvania

Practice Areas:

• Review of Academic and Organizational Policies, Practices, and Allegations of Misconduct
• Abuse of Children, Persons with Disabilities, and Elderly Citizens