Daniel R.W. Rustmann

Daniel R.W. Rustmann is a shareholder in Butzel's Detroit office. His practice has been devoted principally to litigation. He has handled cases in numerous substantive areas, including product liability defense, UCC warranty and product defect/recall litigation, class action litigation, and other commercial contract litigation and arbitration. Over the last three decades, Mr. Rustmann has represented numerous Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers in various matters, including in termination, supply, tooling, warranty, recall, and cost recovery disputes and in negotiating and drafting supply agreements and other contracts, together with purchasing and sales terms and conditions. He also advises clients on NHTSA compliance and represents suppliers in safety defect investigations. He serves as Co-Chair of Butzel's Global Automotive Industry Group, is actively involved with MEMA (formerly known as the Original Equipment Suppliers Association, OESA), is a frequent speaker on legal topics pertinent to the automotive industry, and serves as an arbitrator, mediator, and court appointed special master in resolution of automotive industry and other commercial disputes.

Mr. Rustmann is a graduate of Valparaiso University (BA, 1986) and Valparaiso University School of Law (JD, 1989, with distinction). He was clerk for the Hon. James Moody, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana and an editor of the Valparaiso University Law Review. He also attended the Institute for Alternative Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law.  He is admitted to practice in the State of Michigan, the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan and the Northern District of Indiana, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. He also has been admitted in specific cases in numerous other jurisdictions across the country, including in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin. He is a member of the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association (DBA Foundation Fellow), the Michigan Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.

Mr. Rustmann is a member of the Board of Stewardship and Finance of First English Evangelical Lutheran Church. He is past president of the Detroit Lutheran Schools Association, Living Water Ministries (Lutheran outdoor youth and young adult camps and programs), and was a board member Great Lakes Adaptive Sailing. Mr. Rustmann lives in Grosse Pointe with his wife and their Golden Retriever. Their son attends Wayne State University, and they have twin daughters who are health care professionals and were student athletes at Michigan State University.

Mr. Rustmann was featured on the 2022 OESA Automotive Insiders Podcast, "Sorting Out the Legalities in a Buyer-Seller Dispute."

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Education

Valparaiso University School of Law 1989, J.D.

Valparaiso University 1986, B.A.

Admissions

Memberships

• Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association
• Michigan Bar Association
• Federal Bar Association
• American Bar Association

Awards & Recognitions

Martindale-Hubbell: AV Preeminent

Recipient of the 2009 Lutheran Attorneys In Witness (LAW) Award

Michigan Super Lawyers, Business Litigation, 2015-2022

DBusiness Top Lawyers in Metro Detroit, Product Liability, 2018; Litigation-Commercial, 2021

The Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation, 2021-2023

Chambers USA, America's Leading Lawyers for Business, Commercial Litigation, 2021-2023