Dennis C. McAndrews, Esquire

Dennis C. McAndrews

Printable Bio

Dennis C. McAndrews is the founding shareholder of McAndrews Law Offices, P.C. Mr. McAndrews graduated with a double major in Education and Political Science from Villanova University and received his law degree from the Villanova School of Law.

Professional History

He has worked for over twenty-five years in the public and private sectors in several roles in the field of disability law. Mr. McAndrews regularly represents individuals with disabilities and their families in a variety of areas, including special education matters, special needs trusts, guardianship, estate planning, right-to-treatment cases, and injury cases. He frequently serves as a consultant to other public and private attorneys with regard to disability and special education issues.

He has served as Executive Director and Staff Counsel to two select committees of the Pennsylvania State Senate which evaluated Pennsylvania’s system of care for the mentally retarded and drafted proposed legislation designed to modernize Pennsylvania’s legal basis for the provision of care to the mentally retarded. Mr. McAndrews served for fifteen years as a Special Education Hearing Officer for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, and was regularly assigned to determine the appropriate educational classification, program, and placement of school age children with disabilities. In 1990, he was selected to serve as one of the first appellate hearing officers in Pennsylvania under new Department of Education regulations. During his sixteen years as a prosecutor in the Philadelphia area, and thereafter in criminal defense matters, he handled many cases involving defenses of mental disability. He 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 is a frequent lecturer to national conferences, Bar Association Committees and advocacy groups in Pennsylvania concerning estate planning, special education, and the rights of the disabled. He has authored numerous articles regarding these topics. He served for a decade as Chairman of The Disability Law Committee of the Delaware County Bar Association.

Bar Admissions

Pennsylvania

Practice Areas

Special Education Law

Special Needs Trusts

Guardianship

Estate Planning

Estate Administration

Right-to-Treatment Cases

THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT AFFIRMED AWARD OF COUNSEL FEES TO FAMILY REPRESENTED BY MCANDREWS LAW OFFICES, P.C. The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently affirmed a ruling the District Court in Philadelphia which awarded reimbursement of counsel fees to a family represented by McAndrews Law Offices. Both the Court of Appeals and the District Court held that the School District of Philadelphia was responsible for payment of counsel fees, and that the work completed by McAndrews Law Offices in successfully pursuing compensatory education on behalf of a child with disabilities was fair, reasonable, and cost-effective.
MCANDREWS LAW OFFICES OBTAINS AWARD OF COMPENSATORY EDUCATION AND OBTAINED IDENTIFICATION OF CHILD FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES IN TWO SEPARATE CASES. In two matters handled by Dean Beer, Esquire, of McAndrews Law Offices, hearing officers agreed with our positions and awarded relief to these students. In the first case, it was held the child was improperly excluded from special education services under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. In the second case, the hearing officer found that a child in Kindergarten had not received appropriate instruction and therefore awarded compensatory education to that child. These cases continue a long line of cases in which McAndrews Law Offices has obtained compensatory education and/or tuition reimbursement for students with disabilities through orders or settlements with school districts.
Our Website Now Includes Extensive Videos. Our website now includes extensive videos regarding Estate Planning, Estate Administration, and Special Needs Trusts. Over four (4) hours of informational materials are provided in these seminars, and we invite visitors to our website to review these videos to obtain information about the process of developing appropriate estate planning documents and Special Needs Trusts, as well as administering the estates of decedents. We hope that you find these materials informative! View Videos →

“Our son was a gifted student who always did well in school. However, he began having real difficulty in going to school and was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and school phobia...”

“ A happy footnote to our case: Our son graduated summa cum laude from college and has been accepted for graduate study at the University of Chicago.”

— Mr. and Mrs. B.

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