September 2024 Pacesetter Darren K. Legato
Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz and Associates | Sterling Heights

What motivated you to become a trial lawyer? It’s kind of funny, because you hear people sometimes tell someone at a young age that they should do a certain profession. If you asked people who knew me growing up, they would probably tell you they knew I would become a lawyer someday due to just. an innate argumentative personality. My amazing wife Natalie, bless her heart, has to constantly remind me to leave that mentality at the office. Beyond that, I grew up playing sports and was uber competitive in everything that I did. I hated to lose. That competitiveness has never really gone away. Being a trial lawyer allowed me to continue to try and compete at the highest levels. It just changed the game from physical to intellectual, and I have enjoyed facing that challenge each day.

When did you become a member of MAJ? Why did you decide to join? I grew up as an attorney and spent the first half of my career so far working for the defense side of the bar and switched to become a plaintiff’s attorney in August 2018. I believe I became a member of MAJ in 2019. To be honest, at the time I joined, I did not really know all that the MAJ did or offered. But other attorneys at my firm were MAJ members, and we decided that I should become one as well. Back then, the primary purpose was for the resources MAJ was able to provide its members, mainly the CLEs, seminars and Listserve.

Why do you feel it is important for trial lawyers to be a part of MAJ? From a practice perspective, I would go back to the resources MAJ provides that I mentioned as why I initially signed up. Outside of a handful of our largest, most powerful firms, the vast majority of plaintiff firms seem to be small, boutique or solo offices. The ability to learn and seek guidance from other plaintiff attorneys who practice in your area of law is invaluable. This is especially true for younger attorneys. After a few years, you think you’ve seen everything or you have everything all figured out, but you really don’t. To be able to watch a presentation or demonstration from our most experienced members, as well as to have them be so willing to help and share their insights and work product, is an asset like no other.

Please describe the extent of your MAJ participation (offices held, committees, AAJ, etc.) I try to be as active as I can on the Listserve to give back to the members of the organization the same way they have been so willing with me, first and foremost. If I have a brief on a topic or information relating to an issue someone is having, I generally do not mind sharing my thoughts and work on the topic in case it can provide any help or useful insight to them. That includes presenting, which I have had the pleasure of doing at the MAJ No-Fault Institute. Outside of that, I was fortunate enough in 2023/2024 to be a part of the MAJ Leadership Academy, and I have recently taken on being a part of both the Justice PAC and Executive Board.

You have made a strong commitment to the Justice PAC. Why do you feel supporting the JPAC is important? Prior to going through the Leadership Academy, honestly, I did not truly appreciate or really know the importance or role the Justice PAC plays in what we do as a profession. It’s pretty well known at this point that who our elected officials are and what they have done or not done is a sore topic for some members and cause for dissension at times. But getting the chance to see the behind-the-scenes work through the Academy made me appreciate and understand what the Justice PAC is trying to accomplish. We can all agree to disagree about a lot of things political, but what cannot be disputed is that the Justice PAC is doing everything in their power to help get people elected or appointed that they believe will work to do what they can to help make things better for our clients and our members. Even if we as members may not have liked some of the outcomes, the role and influence MAJ has in shaping that landscape cannot be overstated, and the Justice PAC works tirelessly to secure the funding and direction to make it all happen. I’m not sure it gets any more important than that.

What is distinctive about your practice? And your firm? There isn’t a whole lot distinctive about my practice. I focus on personal injury cases with majority being 1st and 3rd Party No-Fault cases, but also handle general negligence, premises liability, and the occasional breach of contract or medical malpractice file. The one thing myself and my other partners who practice personal injury are not afraid of doing, though, is helping clients who we feel have been egregiously wronged or taken advantage of by the insurance industry, even if their cases may be relatively small in nature. It lets the insurance companies know that they can’t work over an innocent person just because they don’t think attorneys who have knowledge and expertise in an area of law won’t take their cases because of the small dollar amount.

As to our firm in general, the one thing that I have always loved about it since the day I agreed to sign on is the family nature of it. All of our partners and most of our staff have children. My oldest son was just a few weeks old when I joined, and now I have three ranging from ages 6 to 1. We all understand that our families come first. If one of us needs to leave to be there for our family or attend a child’s event, no one bats an eye. If someone on our staff has to leave early because something familywise comes up, we send them on their way and figure it out from there. We like to think it is one of the main reasons we have had such low turnover over the years. Not every firm operates that way, but I, and our other partners, understand it and work to make sure everyone in our office knows that their first priority is at home.

What is your most memorable case? Sadly, the most memorable cases tend to be the most tragic. Given the smaller nature of our office, we don’t handle a ton of overly complicated wrongful death cases. We had one just finish up somewhat recently though that was one of the worst you will see. A mother and young daughter were both fatally struck by a motor vehicle while the mother was crossing the street, pushing her toddler daughter in a stroller. There were multiple vehicle impacts, and one of the drivers was on their way home from working for one of those major app-based companies. After looking at the photos once, you never wanted to have to do it again. We were able to navigate liability issues between the mother crossing the street and the drivers of the vehicles, as well as issues revolving around employee v. independent contractor/ostensible agency theory, and course and scope of employment. At the end of the day, we were able to secure a settlement from the drivers of the vehicles and the company that far exceeded what we thought was possible when we learned the facts of the case. It took a lot of time and effort, as well as a refusal to give in when we were stonewalled on gathering documents at every turn. But we got a just result for the clients and their families. That’s about as much as I can say on it, but it is definitely a case I won’t forget any time soon.

What was your most satisfying case? From a personal perspective, one of my few medical malpractice cases to date comes to mind as the most satisfying mostly because of the offensive nature of the incident and the lack of punishment they received from the state. We had a client who was seeing a counselor for both personal and couples counseling with her fiancé turned husband. At some point in the counseling, our client’s husband and the counselor embarked on an intimate relationship where the counselor even went with our client’s husband to file divorce paperwork with the court. The husband and this counselor ended up married at one point I believe, as well as having a child together, so that our client would literally have to take the child she had with her then-husband over to him and her counselor for their parenting time and see them living their lives together and partially raising our client’s child. It was disturbing on so many levels. The worst part, though, was that this counselor was given such a slap on the wrist by the State of Michigan for their actions that it was appalling just from a human perspective. We couldn’t change anything about that, but we were able to get the client just compensation, at least by what is allowed by our laws, so that she could have the means to move her life forward as she needed to.

Please provide a brief description of your interests outside the practice of law. I mentioned before I have a beautiful wife, Natalie, and three sons, Vincenzo, Luca and Dominic. My kids are 6, 3 and 1. My family consumes just about all of the time I have outside of the office, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Whether with them or on my own, I try and stay as active as possible. My one hobby I try my best to make time for still is golf. I can’t be as good or consistent at it as I once was, but it doesn’t matter. If I get the opportunity to play, I enjoy it and can’t wait until my kids are old enough to play a round with them. For now, teaching them the games I used to play, like baseball or football, and seeing them take to and already succeed at them is more than enough.

Is there anything else that you would like to share? Just a small piece of advice, mainly for our younger members: Do the work, and take pride in the work product you are putting out there. From my time on the defense bar, I know first-hand that insurance companies and defense attorneys know who is willing to do the work to be successful at this job and who isn’t, and they will prey on those they feel they can. Your name means everything in this profession. If you’re given five to ten thousand pages of discovery materials to go through, find the time to go through it or thoroughly research your case when it’s called for. I honestly can’t count how many times I’ve obtained settlements far exceeding what the defense thought they were going to resolve a case for just by being the most prepared person in the room. Your clients will thank you for it, and you’re going to get the recognition you want from both sides of the bar if your work product justifies it. People outside of your firm are reading what you write and watching what you do, even if you don’t think they are. It matters. You get one chance at a professional reputation. Make the most of it.

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