O'Connell, Daniel E.

I was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1952 and lived there until 1969, when my father's job took our family to Brussels, Belgium. I finished high school in Brussels, and learned to speak passable French with a Flemish accent.

After serving in the United States Army, I returned to Lancaster to attend Franklin and Marshall College, where I received a bachelor's degree in economics in 1975. Also in 1975, I married my wife, Alice.

We moved to Wilmington in 1977 so that I could attend Widener Law School. At Widener, I was a member of Moot Court Honor Society and graduated in the top quarter of my class. In my second year, the faculty appointed me to serve on the school's Honor Board, which investigated and ruled on alleged violations of the Student Code of Conduct. During this period, my wife worked as the public relations director for Hagley Museum. I worked as a law clerk for a variety of small Wilmington law firms.

After passing the bar, I obtained full time employment as a deputy attorney general in 1981. During most of the four years that I worked for the Delaware Department of Justice, I was assigned to the Appellate Division.

In 1985, I joined American Guaranty & Trust Company, a small trust company then based in Greenville. I eventually became vice president and assistant trust counsel of that firm. My duties included personal trust drafting, trust administration, and supervising the company's Retirement Plans Department. In addition, I aided the company's sales effort as a public speaker, conducting estate planning seminars in California, Florida and throughout the Midwest.

In 1989, I joined Mellon Bank's personal trust department, but soon discovered that working for a large corporation was not for me. I started my own practice in 1991. I am amazed by how my practice has grown, and I am very grateful that it continues to do so.

Alice and I have two children, Paul, born in 1984, and Marguerite, born in 1990.