Dan E. Gustafson has devoted his practice to the prosecution of antitrust violations, consumer protection, product liability, patent infringements and securities fraud, litigating in federal and state courts across the United States. Mr. Gustafson is a founding member of Gustafson Gluek PLLC where he has been practicing law since 2003. Mr. Gustafson began his law practice at Opperman Heins & Paquin in 1992 before becoming a founding member and partner at Heins Mills & Olson, P.L.C. in 1994. He is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Eighth and Eleventh Circuits, and in the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Gustafson is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of North Dakota (B.S. 1986) with majors in Economics and Sociology and a cum laude graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School (J.D. 1989). He was a member of the Minnesota Law Review from 1987 to 1989, serving as an Associate Research Editor in 1988-1989. Mr. Gustafson served as a law clerk to the Honorable Diana E. Murphy, United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota (1989-91).
In June 2005, Mr. Gustafson testified before the United States Congressional Commission on Antitrust Modernization regarding indirect purchaser antitrust issues. In September 2011, he testified before the House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet regarding the proposed merger between Express Scripts and Medco. Mr. Gustafson has authored numerous pieces on various legal topics related to class action litigation, antitrust, consumer protection or advocacy. He has also co-authored chapters, “Pretrial Discovery in Civil Litigation” in Private Enforcement of Antitrust Law in the United States and “Obtaining Evidence” in The International Handbook on Private Enforcement of Competition.
Mr. Gustafson is a member of the Hennepin County, Minnesota State, Federal, and American Bar Associations. He was the president of the Federal Bar Association, Minnesota Chapter for the 2002-2003 year, and vice-chair of the 2003 Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference. In 2009, Mr. Gustafson helped to develop the Federal Bar Association’s Pro Se Project, which coordinates volunteer representation for pro se litigants in the Eighth Circuit. In 2011, Mr. Gustafson agreed to represent a class of approximately 700 patients civilly committed to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program pro bono in an ongoing civil rights case as part of the Pro Se Project.
Mr. Gustafson was named one of Minnesota Lawyer’s Attorneys of the Year in 2010, 2013 and 2017. He has also been designated by Law & Politics magazine as a “Super Lawyer” in the fields of antitrust, class actions and business litigation for seventeen consecutive years. Mr. Gustafson was also ranked in the Top 100 Minnesota “Super Lawyers” from 2012-2018.
In 2014, Mr. Gustafson received the American Antitrust Institute (AAI) Meritorious Service Award for the support he had provided AAI.
