One of the founding partners of Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz and Associates, P.C., Jeff focuses his practice in the areas of elder law, estate planning, trust administration, probate administration, and corporate law. Jeff grew up in Sterling Heights and is happy to return to Macomb County to practice law.

Jeff graduated from Sterling Heights High School. He graduated at the top of his class while playing football and earning honors in the classroom and on the football field. Following graduation, Jeff went on to study business administration and accounting while playing football at Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan. He graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an accounting major and an economics minor. A two-year recipient of the prestigious Dawson Business Scholarship at Adrian College, Jeff set his sights on law school and chose to continue his studies at Wayne State University School of Law in 1997. Graduating from law school, Jeff sought a career to apply both accounting and business, together, with the practice of law.

Prior to establishing Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz & Associates, P.C., Jeff worked with a large regional accounting and business consulting firm, an insurance defense law firm and a business law firm specializing in corporate law, business formation, business consulting and private equity matters. After working with an elder law and estate planning firm from 2003 through 2005, Jeff left the firm to form Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz and Associates, P.C., together with Phillip S. Serafini, in early 2006. Shortly thereafter, they were joined by Patrick J. Derkacz. The firm grew quickly to become a general practice firm offering expertise in specialized practice areas, including: no-fault and auto-law; longterm disability insurance claims and disputes; and, elder law—areas of practice that the firm is recognized locally and nationally. Today the firm enjoys being a neighborhood firm meeting almost all of its community’s legal needs.

From 2006 to present, Jeff has maintained his elder law and estate planning focus while assisting clients in other aspects of law including corporate planning, consulting and litigation. He has assisted thousands of local area families with the difficult task of finding longterm-care planning solutions for their aging loved-ones while protecting estates from Medicaid “spend-down” and estate recovery. He is passionate about helping families find the best quality of care at the lowest cost possible. Jeff also enjoys helping families and business owners plan for the future through the use of estate planning and business succession planning.

Jeff is actively involved with several business and professional development groups and continuing education. He is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), the Elder Law Section of the Michigan Bar, VAGA (a veteran’s legal and financial planning group), local area chambers of commerce and the North Macomb Business Professionals Breakfast Group. Jeff recently became a Trustee of the Macomb County Bar Foundation and is also an Associate Director of the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame.

Jeff remains actively involved in sports. He founded a local youth baseball organization, coaches both football and baseball and founded a State of Michigan Non-Profit Corporation to assist with youth sports organizational funding. He also enjoys playing golf and hockey. Jeff and his family reside in Macomb County.

Bar Associations

  • State Bar of Michigan
  • Macomb County Bar Association
  • National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
  • Michigan Elder Law Section

Education

  • Wayne State University Law School - J.D. - 2000
  • Adrian College - B.B.A. - 1997

    Accountancy & Business Administration
    Summa Cum Laude

Client Reviews

Thanks so much for all your help these past five years in helping me with all the legal aspects of my folks, L & E.M's, trust. Thanks for answering all my questions. It's been a difficult last 5 years on making decisions for my father, but I'm so grateful that god blessed me with them for so many...

D.C.

I want to thank you both for all your help and hard work on my case. This certainly was good news! You both did tremendous jobs dealing with Cigna and answering my questions. Thank you and have a wonderful Christmas season!

Marc

Thank you so much for all of your help getting me thru this mess. You have no idea how much you have helped. I couldn’t have done this without you! Only one more hurdle, yay!!

B.T.

I really wanted to thank you, the way you talked with me and worked with me, it was amazing. I was dreading the experience & the deposition & you really made it very easy for me. So, thank you very much for a job well done.

H.H.

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