About Phillip S.
Phillip S. Serafini earned a B.A. in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University in 1985 and a J.D. from Wayne State University Law School in 1991. He joined the State Bar of Michigan the same year and has maintained an active membership since. The early academic focus on criminal justice and law set a steady course for a career that centers on courtroom work and dispute resolution.
After law school Serafini moved into private practice. He is a lawyer at Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz & Associates, P.C., where he has worked on matters brought in both state and federal forums. His practice record shows long-term involvement at that firm, where he has handled case preparation, hearings, and trial proceedings.
He is admitted to practice in Michigan and in the federal courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan. He also is admitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Those admissions allow him to pursue appeals and federal trial work when cases require it, and to coordinate strategies across different levels of the judiciary.
Serafini maintains memberships in a number of professional organizations. He has been a member of the State Bar of Michigan since 1991 and holds current memberships in the Oakland County and Macomb County bar associations. He has belonged to the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association and the Mediation Tribunal Association of Wayne County since 2000, and joined the Association of Trial Lawyers of America in 2001. He also lists sustaining membership in the Michigan Association of Justice.
Those affiliations reflect a practice shaped by courtroom advocacy and alternative dispute resolution. He has worked on matters that move through mediation tribunals as well as traditional trials. Colleagues and clients have encountered him in hearings, mediations, and the occasional appeal. The combination of trial association involvement and mediation tribunal work signals a practitioner comfortable in both contested and negotiated settings.
Across more than three decades of practice, Serafini has kept a steady presence in local and federal legal circles. He continues to represent clients out of Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz & Associates, P.C., appearing in Michigan courts and in federal courts when cases so require. He currently practices in the jurisdictions where he is admitted and handles litigation, mediation and related court proceedings.
