FRAMETOWN, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Hailed as an attorney who “revered the protecting freedom of the press,” well known Charleston lawyer Sean McGinley passed away yesterday following an Interstate 79 accident in Braxton County.
Associates said McGinley was headed south, returning to Charleston after a court hearing in Morgantown.
Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper, a fellow attorney, mourned his colleague’s passing while making reference to McGinley”s experience in representing the press.
“Sean McGinley was first and foremost a family man,” Carper said before saluting McGinley’s work for press freedom.
McGinley was a partner in the DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress PLLC in Charleston.
Reports placed the time of the wreck at 5:16 p.m. near the Frametown exit of I79. Rain, heavy at times, had moistened the Interstate prior to the crash. Both southbound lanes were temporarily closed by the mishap.
“I’m at a loss to grasp it,” his longtime law partner, Tim DiPiero, told MetroNews.
“He was such a good man and such a great father, husband, son, just a friend to so many. He was a brilliant lawyer. Just a caring soul, just full of life and fun. It’s hard to understand why these things happen.”
McGinley had 30 years’ legal experience, prominently representing The Charleston Gazette-Mail newspaper and one of its predecessors, The Charleston Gazette. In addition he represented other media outlets.
Former Kanawha County Prosecutor said he “considered Sean an excellent lawyer as well as an excellent person. This is a terrible tragedy.”
McGinley was born in Morgantown. And earned his law degree from Oxford University’s Keble College of Law in 1990. He was a law clerk at the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals from 1990 to 1993, clerking for Chief Justice Thomas McHugh and Justice Tom Miller. He clerked for U.S. District Judge Charles Haden from 1994 to 1995.
McGinley lived in Charleston with his wife, Ana, and their two sons. He coached youth league basketball and baseball.