Derek recently passed the Iowa bar and was admitted to practice on September 20, 2019. He graduated from the University of North Dakota in 2016, majoring in Commercial Aviation and Political Science. Derek graduated from the University of Iowa College Law in 2019. During law school, Derek was a Managing Editor for the Iowa Law Review and published his note: Solzhenitsyn’s Submissive Sheep of Today: The United States’ Susceptibility to Dictatorial Takeover and Presidential Overreach, 104 Iowa L. Rev. 2223 (2019). He also practiced as a student in the Immigration Legal Clinic, where he represented clients with pending disputes in the Immigration Courts and other federal agencies. Derek served on the Iowa City Airport Commission and was employed as a flight instructor until he joined Grefe & Sidney. He also interned at the Iowa Attorney General’s Office in the Administrative and Licensing Division representing the State of Iowa in constitutional cases, Open Records, and licensure disciplinary actions; and the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund where he helped draft legislation for the Illinois General Assembly. He will be practicing in the firm’s litigation division, handling state licensing disciplinary actions, insurance defense cases, business disputes, and white-collar criminal defense.
