Lani Sharon Wilenkin

Lani Sharon Wilenkin is an insurance lawyer and partner at Feldheim & Wilenkin, P.C. whose practice is devoted to ERISA and non-ERISA short- and long-term disability claims and life insurance denials. Wilenkin joined the firm in 2004 and became a partner in 2008. She represents individuals challenging insurance-company decisions at the administrative and judicial levels and focuses on helping clients understand the claims process, the evidence required, and the legal standards that can affect disability or life insurance benefits.

Wilenkin earned a J.D., with honors, from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 2000 and a B.S. in Human Resource Development from Oakland University in 1997. She was admitted to the Michigan State Bar in 2000. Her education supports a practice that combines contract interpretation, employee-benefit rules, medical and vocational evidence, administrative claim records, and federal litigation when an insurer denies or terminates benefits under an ERISA-governed or individual policy.

Wilenkin has helped hundreds of clients challenge denials of short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance benefits. Her practice includes administrative appeals and lawsuits in federal court, and she has obtained favorable results in the US District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan and the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She also emphasizes client education, providing explanations and written materials intended to make complex insurance and benefit processes easier to understand.

Lani Sharon Wilenkin concentrates her legal work on disability and life insurance disputes rather than a broad general insurance practice. Wilenkin’s experience at both the administrative and federal-court stages helps clients evaluate policy language, claim records, insurer reasoning, and available appeal options. Her focused practice is suited to people facing denied or terminated benefits who need careful development of the record, clear guidance through ERISA procedures, and litigation experience if an administrative challenge does not resolve the claim.

Law Office Affiliations

• Attorney, Feldheim & Wilenkin, P.C.
• Member, State Bar of Michigan
• Member Since, Michigan State Bar Assoc (2000)

Licensed State

• Michigan

Education

• University of Detroit Mercy School of Law
  Juris Doctor (JD)
• Oakland University
  Bachelor of Science (BS) in Human Resource Development

Awards & Badges