Daniel Gustafson

Dan is a founding member of Gustafson Gluek PLLC. and has dedicated his career to helping individuals and small businesses fight against large corporations for various antitrust, product defect or consumer fraud violations. During his career, he also sought to represent those who cannot otherwise afford a lawyer. 

Dan Gustafson graduated with honors from the University of North Dakota in 1986, and with honors from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1989. During law school, Dan was a member of the Minnesota Law Review from 1987 to 1989, serving as Associate Research Editor in 1988-1989. 

After law school, Dan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Diana E. Murphy, United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota (1989-91). He served as an appointed public defender in Minnesota federal court and helped start the Minnesota Federal Bar Association’s Pro Se Project which matches lawyers in Minnesota with pro se litigations in federal court.  He has spent thousands of hours representing individuals on a pro bono basis. In 2019, Dan was given a lifetime achievement award by the Minnesota Federal Bar Association for his work on the Pro Se Project. 

Dan has testified before Congress and the Commission on Antitrust Modernization, and he has authored and presented numerous seminars and continuing legal education pieces on various topics related to class action litigation, antitrust, consumer protection and legal advocacy. He has also co-authored chapters in several legal books and, for more than a dozen years, taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School.  

Dan is a long-time member of the Federal Bar Association and 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 2021, Dan was awarded the “Richard S. Arnold Award for Distinguished Service” by the Eighth Circuit Bar Association.  

Dan has been selected as an Attorney of the Year by Minnesota Lawyer magazine on three separate occasions - once in 2010 for his work on the In re Medtronic Sprint Fidelis Leads Product Liability Litig. (D. Minn.), again in 2013 for his work on Karsjens v. Jesson (D. Minn.) and finally in 2017 as part of the In re Syngenta (Minn.) trial team.  He has also been designated a “Super Lawyer” in the fields of business litigation and class actions for the last twenty two years, and in the Top 100 Lawyers for the last fourteen years. 

Dan has been named lead counsel, co-lead counsel or a member of the executive committee or plaintiffs’ steering committee in dozens and dozens of complex antitrust and consumer protection class action cases during the last more than 30 years.  He continues to be actively involved in complex class action litigation across the United States in antitrust and consumer protection cases.

More About Dan

    • University of Minnesota Law School - J.D., cum laude (1989)

    • University of North Dakota - B.A., magna cum laude (1986)

    • Minnesota

    • U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

    • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

    • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan

    • U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota

    • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

    • U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

    • U.S. Court of Appeals for the First, Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits

    • U.S. Supreme Court

    • Lifetime Achievement Award from the District of Minnesota Bar (2019)

    • Selected as a Minnesota Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers in the field of antitrust litigation (2001 - 2023)

    • Selected as an Attorney of the Year (2010, 2013, 2017) by Minnesota Lawyer

    • Ranked in the Top 100 Minnesota Lawyers by Super Lawyers (2012-2023)

    • Recognized as a North Star Lawyer by the Minnesota State Bar Association (2012, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2020)

    • Received the American Antitrust Institute Meritorious Service Award (2014)

  • Dan is currently or has been actively involved in the representation of plaintiffs and plaintiff classes in hundreds of cases over his career.

    Dan has been named as Lead or Co-Lead Counsel in many cases. For example, Dan is currently Co-Lead counsel in In re Syngenta Litig. (Minn.), in which he represented Minnesota corn farmers against Syngenta, Inc. related to Syngenta’s marketing of certain GMO corn. He is also Co-Lead counsel in In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litig. (N. D. Ill.), in which he represents a class of restaurants and healthcare centers that purchased chicken at inflated prices. Recently, he was appointed to the Lead Counsel committee in In re Surescripts Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Ill.), in which he represents class of independent pharmacies, which allege that defendants conspired to monopolize and restrain trade in the routing and eligibility e-prescription services markets in violation of the antitrust laws.

    Other cases in which Dan is or has been named Lead or Co-Lead counsel, Co-Lead Trial counsel, or Settlement counsel include:

    • In re Medtronic, Inc. Sprint Fidelis Liability Litig. (D. Minn.) (Lead Counsel representing individuals alleging claims relating to defective heart leads)

    • Precision Assocs. Inc. v. Panalpina World Transport (Holding) Ltd. (E.D.N.Y) (Co-Lead Counsel for an antitrust class action brought on behalf of direct purchasers of freight forwarder services);

    • In re Medtronic, Inc. Implantable Defibrillators Liability Litig. (D. Minn.) (Co-Lead Counsel representing individuals alleging claims relating to defective implantable defibrillators)

    • In re Vitamin C Antitrust Litig. (E.D.N.Y.) (Co-Lead Counsel representing a class of indirect purchasers of Vitamin C against Vitamin C manufacturers alleging antitrust violations by the Defendants)

    • In re DRAM Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Cal.) (Co-Lead representing a class of indirect consumers of DRAM alleging antitrust violations by the Defendants).

    • The Shane Group, Inc. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (E.D. Mich.) (Co-Lead Counsel representing a class of subscribers of Blue Cross alleging antitrust violations by the Defendant)

    • In re Syngenta Litig. (Minn.) (Co-Lead Trial counsel and court-appointed Settlement counsel)

    • Karsjens v. Jesson (D. Minn.) (Lead Trial counsel for a class of civilly committed sex offenders alleging constitutional violations)

    • Synthes USA, LLC v. Spinal Kinetics (N.D. Cal.) (Co-Lead trial counsel in a patent infringement litigation)

    • KBA-Giori, North America, Inc., v. Muhlbauer, Inc. (E.D. Va.) (Co-Lead trial counsel in a patent infringement litigation)

    • Spine Solutions, Inc. v. Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Inc. (W.D. Tenn.) (Co-Lead trial counsel in a patent infringement litigation)

    • Dryer v. National Football League (D. Minn.) (court-appointed Settlement counsel representing retired football players alleging misuse of their likeness and images by the NFL)

    Other Representative Cases:

    • In re Asacol Antitrust Litig. (D. Mass.)

    • In re Automotive Parts Antitrust Litig. (E.D. Mich.)

    • In re Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Cal.)

    • Trabakoolas v. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (N.D. Cal.)

    • In re Aluminum Warehousing Antitrust Litig. (S.D.N.Y.)

    • In re Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Ala.)

    • Kleen Products, LLC v. Packaging Corporation of America (N.D. Ill.)

    • National Hockey League Players’ Concussion Injury Litig. (D. Minn.)

    • In re Wellbutrin SR Antitrust Litig. (E.D. Pa.)

    • In re TFT-LCD (Flat Panel) Antitrust Litig. (N.D. Cal.);

    • SAJ Distributors, Inc. v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. (E.D. Va.)