Apr. 28, 2025
Derek Witte, Esq.
Protecht, Inc.; GradGuard https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-witte-527a559/
About The Lecturer
Derek is proud to serve as a Fractional General Counsel at GradGuard and Protecht, where he uses his years of diverse legal experience to provide critical advice and legal support to the C-Suite so each company can thrive in the highly competitive world of insurance and technology.
Derek is a former litigator and professor with a proven track record of courtroom and academic success. He is an experienced corporate counsel with expertise in litigation management, contract law, insurance regulation, and numerous other inhouse legal issues. He is also an accomplished CIPP-US certified corporate counsel, adept at designing, implementing, and enforcing stringent data privacy programs to ensure full compliance with U.S. and international regulations.
Derek attended the John Marshal Law School in Chicago, Illinois, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. While attending law school, he served as a judicial extern for the honorable Robert W. Gettleman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and competed in numerous trial advocacy and moot court competitions, including the Willem C. Vis International Moot Court in Vienna, Austria.
After law school, Derek practiced as a commercial litigator and trial attorney, fighting for corporate and pro bono clients in numerous cases. He has won arguments and court battles in state and federal trial courts in Illinois and Michigan, and in appeals courts in Kansas and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. During his career, he also represented professional athletes in contract negotiations and in arbitration disputes in Olympics team selections.
Derek was also a full-time law professor from 2008-2012, teaching Contracts and E-Discovery and publishing numerous articles about e-discovery and privacy. After teaching, Derek returned to private practice and litigated several multimillion-dollar Mortgage-Backed Securities cases in court and in arbitration. In 2016, Derek took an inhouse position at an international insurance company, where he rose through the ranks, becoming an expert and valued counselor within the insurance industry.
Before attending law school, Derek was a Collegiate National Champion in both individual and team events while attending Marian College (now University) in Indianapolis, IN.
Practice Area(s)
Insurance
Attorney Well-Being
Science & Technology
Corporate Law
Publications
“The Bear Hug That Is Crushing Debt-Burdened Americans: Why Overzealous Regulation of The Debt-Settlement Industry Ultimately Harms The Consumers It Means To Protect.” Texas Review of Art and Politics
Education
J.D., University of Illinois Chicago School of Law
B.A., Marian University Indianapolis
