Vice President
Edward McGinn still isn’t quite sure how he became one of three vice presidents on the Overbrook School for the Blind Board of Trustees.
His initial involvement more than seven years ago was due to the recommendation of his sister-in-law, Jackie Keenan, whose 18-year-old son Nicholas has attended OSB since he was three. She believed – correctly -- that McGinn’s own experience with the premature birth of a child, his subsequent volunteer work as an attorney for The Support Center for Child Advocates, and his stellar reputation in construction accident litigation made him a perfect fit for the school.
She was right.
Almost immediately, McGinn joined the Facilities Committee. Later, he assumed the role of chairman. “And then somewhere along the way, and I'm not even sure I remember this happening, but I became a vice president.
“I don't do anything independently regarding it. I just try to help. We've had some legal matters that came up over time involving the pool roof litigation. Given my work as an attorney for these types of situations, where it's valuable, I can assist and help to navigate some of those issues.”
Following graduation from Notre Dame in 1981, McGinn attended Duquesne University School of Law, where he graduated in the top 25 percent of his class and received his juris doctor in 1984. He started his career with the defense litigation firm of Liebert, Short, Fitzpatrick and Lavin, and developed extensive experience in a wide range of casualty defense matters, with particular emphasis on the defense of product liability claims defending construction-related accidents in Philadelphia and the counties as a lawyer for 40 years.
The premature birth of his youngest child – she was one pound five ounces when born at 23 ½ weeks – triggered a desire to give back as he watched appreciatively the effort to nurture and protect her. (She is a perfectly healthy 32-year-old these days, “A miracle in our lives,” he says.
McGinn has provided pro bono litigation for The Support Center for 22 years and has been honored with recognition as its “Distinguished Advocate for Children.”
“That’s where I came to learn the great benefits of doing this kind of work,” he says. “You get out of these things much more than you put into them.”
Beyond that, McGinn’s continued involvement with OSB traces to two things. One is ``to support this great school that supports my nephew.” ``I’ve grown very close to Nicholas,’ he says.
The other traces to his parents, Edward Sr. and Jeane, both of whom have passed away. ``They in their way tried to support the school and now they are both unfortunately gone,’ their son says. “But I can continue that. My hope is to continue to stay involved.”
