Mr. O’Donnell graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia in 1976, where he was an Atlantic Coast Conference Honor Roll student athlete.  After running a painting business and working nights at a large commercial bakery, Mr. O'Donnell returned to the University of Virginia and received his law degree there in 1980.  After law school, he served as a law clerk to the Virginia Supreme Court. A promised position with the Department of Interior Solicitor's Honors Program and a mountain climbing avocation led Mr. O'Donnell to Alaska.  Mr. O'Donnell is listed in Alaska Super Lawyers.  Mr. O’Donnell has also received the highest possible rankings for legal ability ("A" for high to preeminent) and ethical standards ("V" for very high) from Martindale-Hubbell a national peer-review organization.  

In 2015 Mr. O'Donnell received the honor of being one of the few Alaska attorneys to be inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers.  "The American College of Trial Lawyers, founded in 1950, recognizes the very best trial lawyers from the United States and Canada.  The College's Fellows are chosen strictly by invitation and only after a rigorous and lenghty investigation.  The candidate must be identified as a highly skilled trial lawyer in the opinion of judges and practitioners, and as a person whose ethics, moral standards and collegiality are above reproach.  Fellowship is limited to one percent of the lawyers in any individual State or Providence, and the candidate must have practiced for at least 15 years."