Daniel D. Ujczo

Dan Ujczo (Practice Group Chair, Canada-U.S.)  is an international trade and transportation lawyer with a particular emphasis on Canada-U.S. and North American matters. Licensed to practice in the U.S., Dan is one of few individuals that have served in the U.S. and Canadian governments, private practice, and academia.  This unique experience enables him to provide targeted counsel to clients regarding the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Buy American/procurement, and tariff matters.

Dan represents clients spanning multiple sectors including automotive/advanced manufacturing, aerospace, construction, food and agri-business, infrastructure, technology, and transportation.  During negotiations for USMCA, Dan testified before the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the Parliament of Canada. He also collaborated with all three countries during the negotiations and attended every negotiating round. He has published multiple USMCA training materials and is a leading media voice regarding USMCA and related trade and transportation issues.   Dan also possesses experience in the automotive rules of origin (ROO), working with clients in the design of the rules and recently offering training seminars with Mexico’s USMCA Automotive ROO negotiator.

In addition to his legal practice, Dan coordinates the firm’s innovative Canada-U.S. Platform where he collaborates with more than 400 Dickinson Wright attorneys who regularly assist businesses with cross-border issues such as customs and compliance, corporate structuring, M&A, taxation, business immigration, intellectual property protection, and financial incentives.  Additionally, he provides public policy counsel to governmental officials and corporate leaders in areas of regulatory cooperation, border security, economic development, labor mobility, corporate social responsibility, and public-private-partnerships. 

Prior to joining Dickinson Wright, Dan served as an officer in Canada’s foreign ministry where he was responsible for coordinating a network of government departments and Canada-U.S. industry associations toward improving North America’s borders and ports-of-entry.  Dan also served as a liaison between government officials in Canada and the U.S., as well as routinely assisted companies in dealings with Canada-U.S. regulatory agencies.

Dan was the Managing Director of the Canada-United States Law Institute, an organization of cross-border corporate executives, in-house counsel, law firms, public policy experts, scholars, and the media housed at Case Western Reserve University and the University of Western Ontario.  Dan was a visiting professor of law at Case Western Reserve University School of Law for nearly a decade and managed a lab that served as a legal adviser to the US Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard.  Dan was the co-faculty advisor for the Canada-United States Law Journal and the Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law.

Dan’s prior U.S. litigation experience includes labor and employment defense, civil rights, product liability, and criminal matters.  Dan’s U.S. government experience also includes serving as a Career Judicial Law Clerk to United States District Judge Peter C. Economus (OHND) where he participated in federal criminal and civil trial litigation, including performing by designation in cases pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.