January 2026: 

The MLO Minute: “Our Legal Family (and So Many Others) Mourn the Passing of Joe McGettigan” — 

By Dennis McAndrews, Esq., Founder and Managing Partner Emeritus — 

Our great friend and treasured professional colleague, Joe McGettigan, passed away on New Year’s Eve. He was a wonderful guy, a faithful citizen,  and an incredible lawyer. He successfully prosecuted two of the highest profile criminal cases in American history, the murder trial of John duPont and the serial child abuse case of Jerry Sandusky, among others. It’s a tremendous loss for me (and my family), our firm and so many others.

 

 

Joe was 76 years old and a resident of Media, Pennsylvania. In addition to his mother and siblings noted below, he is survived by his beloved wife, Gay Warren and more friends and admirers than can be counted. Joe graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Temple University in English literature, and from the University of San Diego School of Law. Shortly after graduation he began an illustrious career as a prosecutor in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, where he successfully handled an array of highly complex and challenging homicide and child abuse cases, including a lengthy string of first-degree murder convictions in often horrific cases.

 

 

Joe 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 Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, and as an Assistant United States Attorney in Philadelphia. In each of those roles, Joe continued to try the most serious cases, often involving child abuse and murder. For the past decade, Joe was a valued member of our law firm, where he handled cases involving Title IX, college discipline, and abuse matters with great skill and dedication.

 

 

Joe’s successful prosecution in 1996 – 1997 of John DuPont immediately became a case of international attention due to the defendant’s name and astronomical wealth as well as the identity of the victim, Olympic gold medal wrestler David Schultz. Joe hired me early in the case as Special Prosecutor to assist him, and he led our small prosecutorial team in beating back over 80 pretrial motions and emergency appeals by duPont’s defense team of four law firms and two dozen lawyers. These efforts allowed us to bring to bring duPont to trial in one year—no small feat under these circumstances. Joe’s skill and commitment in preparing for trial and his work with victims and witnesses caused duPont’s insanity defense to be rejected, and he was convicted of third-degree murder. DuPont was sentenced to up to 30 years in prison and he died in jail in 2011. Joe and I were essentially joined at the hip during the 18 months of the duPont proceedings, and we remained extremely close ever since.

 

 

In 2012, Joe became lead prosecutor on another case that garnered nationwide and international media attention, the Jerry Sandusky serial child molestation case. Due to the notoriety of the victim and the institution involved, the case quickly captured the attention of the country and sports world, and ended with Sandusky’s conviction on 45 criminal counts and a 30- to 60-year prison sentence for child sexual abuse.

 

 

Joe’s career was also multifaceted. He also served a year-long deployment in Iraq where he worked in a U. S. Department of Justice/State Department program to 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 the network television production Philly.

 

 

Joe enjoyed a great love for basketball and was as fierce a competitor on the basketball court as he was in the courtroom. He played with the Community College of Philadelphia as well as competing with teams in various leagues throughout the city. He also cherished the opportunity to play for European clubs while teaching English abroad.

 

 

In addition to his wife, Gay Warren, Joe is survived by his mother, Ruth L. McGettigan (nee Gutbrod), his siblings Kathleen, who Mary (Dr. Larry Caputo), Jeanne (Balbino Uriarte), Michael (Kathleen Krattenmaker), Patricia (Mike Postil), and Susan, together with niece and nephews – Luisa, Martin, Sam, and Andrew. He was predeceased by his sister, Elizabeth, and his father, Joseph E. McGettigan II.

 

 

Joe and I had a moving and touching discussion shortly before his passing about what would come next, and together pondered the meaning of a curious phrase used at funerals that “we live in sure and certain hope of the resurrection.” We didn’t exactly solve that riddle, and please keep Joe and his wonderful wife Gay and his family (and mine) in your prayers. RIP my friend-we all love you and we’ll reconnect on the other side.

-Dennis