Patrick Jerome Derkacz

Patrick Derkacz grew up in Warren, Michigan, where he attended public school. He graduated from Warren Mott High School in 1984, where he played football. He then attended Eastern Michigan University, graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry in 1988. After graduation he worked as an analytical chemist for the Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research Division in Ann Arbor, Michigan for several years.

Mr. Derkacz returned to school at the Detroit College of Law (now Michigan State University Law School) in 1990, graduating with Honors in 1993. While in law school he participated in the Moot Court Program and was a member of the team that attended the Benjamin J. Cardozo competition in New York City. Mr. Derkacz was selected as the best Oralist in both the preliminary and final rounds; the team was also awarded first place for best brief and best team. He was selected to be a teaching assistant for the contracts professor.

After graduating from DCL, he worked briefly for several firms doing insurance defense work on premises liability and then professional liability cases. He then accepted a position with a plaintiff's firm focusing exclusively on medical malpractice cases. Mr. Derkacz spent the next five years helping people who were injured as a result of substandard medical care. During this time he honed his ability to review and understand complex medical conditions and the physical restrictions and limitations they imposed on his clients, and he assisted a number of those clients with the recovery of long-term disability insurance benefits.

In 2006, Mr. Derkacz joined partners Phil Serafini and Jeff Michalowski to form Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz and Associates, devoting his practice to disability insurance claims and cases. He has spent the last 12+ years helping people fight to get their disability insurance benefits paid, handling hundreds of disability claims against virtually every disability insurance company — including Cigna, Aetna, The Hartford, MetLife, UNUM, Lincoln Financial, and Madison National.

Patrick is usually retained after a client receives a letter advising that their claim for disability benefits has been denied. He represents the client in the administrative appeal process and, if the disability insurance company fails to overturn the denial, files suit — usually in Federal Court. He has successfully resolved hundreds of long-term disability insurance claims, compelling payment by the insurance company for the client's benefits.

Mr. Derkacz married his prom date after graduating from law school in 1993, and they recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. They have four children and reside in Rochester Hills. Pat loves to play golf in the summer and watch his kids play school basketball, softball, and baseball games. He enjoys Michigan football games — where his daughter is a section leader in the marching band — and loves to travel and spend time up north with his wife and dog.