Derk Wilcox is the Senior Attorney at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and a member of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation legal team. He joined the Center in June 2012. 

As the Mackinac Center’s senior attorney, Wilcox has, among other things, litigated cases challenging the constitutionality of taxes on tourism; challenged local bans on short-term home rentals; made governments and universities comply with Freedom of Information Act requests; and protected teachers and other public employees from being forced to stay in or pay unions.

On behalf of the Center, Wilcox has testified before the United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.  He has also testified before the Michigan Civil Service Commission, and the Michigan House Oversight Committee.

Prior to joining the Mackinac Center, he represented clients in a range of civil matters including litigation involving business disputes, construction and lien law, franchise contracts, real estate ownership/management disputes, and Uniform Commercial Code issues. He has also represented patients in the state's mental-health care system and disabled clients in the probate courts. 

Wilcox also spent ten years with Economics America, Inc., an economic consulting firm where he assisted in econometric forecasting.

Wilcox received his law degree from Ave Maria School of Law in Ann Arbor, Mich., where he was a recipient of the Thomas More Full-Tuition Scholarship. He also holds a masters of arts in economics from University of Detroit, Mercy and a bachelor of arts in political science and economics from the University of Michigan.

Wilcox lives in Dexter, Mich.