Rockwood Bullard III | Clarkston Business Lawyer | Michigan

Rockwood W. Bullard III has practiced law since 1974. His areas of specialty are business formation, mergers and acquisitions, real estate transactions and disputes, domestic and international transactions, capital formation, negotiations and civil litigation. In addition, in the course of his career, Rockwood has substantial practice experience in medical malpractice defense, aviation crash defense and municipal law.

Rockwood served in the United States Army as a Counterintelligence Special Agent, Military Intelligence Branch, from March 1966 to November 1969. He held a top-secret security clearance and was a Vietnamese linguist. Rockwood was a member of the 101st Airborne Division, stationed in Hué, Vietnam, where he served in a combat intelligence role from November 1968 to November 1969. He was engaged in numerous counterintelligence operations including various classified programs and operations and was liaison to the 1st ARVN Division during Têt 1969. Rockwood was awarded the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medals for his service. He is a disabled veteran.

After returning from his military service, Rockwood earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in from Wayne State University Detroit, Michigan (June 1971) with a major in English composition and a minor in languages.

Rockwood earned a Juris Doctor degree from New England School of Law, Boston, Massachusetts (June 1974), where he earned numerous academic and other law school honors. He was a member of several organizations and was Editor-in-Chief of New England Journal on Criminal Law and Confinement in which he published the Note, “Prisoners’ Rights to Unrestricted Use of the Mails,” 1 New Eng. J. Crim. L. Conf. 80 (1974). Rockwood was the recipient of the Westlaw Constitution academic award, the Dean’s Achievement Award and the Amos L. Taylor Award, the highest student award granted by New England School of Law.

Rockwood has been admitted to practice law in the following jurisdictions: District of Columbia - 1975; Michigan - 1976; U.S. District Court, Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan, and U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit - 1977; U.S. Supreme Court - 1979. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the District of Columbia Bar. He has practiced throughout the United States and has been admitted Pro Hac Vice to several federal and/or State courts including those in Pennsylvania, Georgia, South Carolina, California, Minnesota, and Florida.

Rockwood has served as Chairman - Member/Panelist on the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board from 1984 to 2006. (The Attorney Discipline Board is the judicial arm of the Supreme Court of Michigan in connection with the discipline of attorneys.) Rockwood also was elected to serve as a member of the Ecclesiastical Court, Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, Detroit, Michigan, from 1998 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2008. He has served as Senior Warden and Vestryman for Episcopal Church congregations.

Throughout his career, Rockwood has served on many local, State and federal bar association committees as well as community organizations. Most recently, he completed service on the State Bar of Michigan Judicial Crossroads Task Force, which studied, and made recommendations to the Michigan Supreme Court regarding the future of Michigan’s courts. Rockwood authored the jurisdiction portion of the Business Impact Committee’s report to the Task Force. He is a member of the Civil Air Patrol, the United States Air Force Auxiliary, holds the CAP rank of Lieutenant Colonel and serves Michigan Wing Judge Advocate/Legal Officer. He is a licensed private pilot.

Among Rockwood’s cases are the following: Published: Executive Jet Aviation v. Boyle, 444 U.S. 841 (1979) (challenged propriety of federal district court dismissal of case based on lack of removal jurisdiction; certiorari denied); Chivas Products v. Owen, 864 F.2d 1280 (1988) (among other things it was determined in the Chivas case, in which Bullard represented defendants, that concurrent State and federal jurisdiction did not exist in civil-RICO cases in the Sixth Judicial Circuit of the United States courts; the dissent expressed a contrary opinion); Unpublished: McKenzie v. Detroit, 74 Fed. Appx. 553; 2003 App. LEXIS 18094 (6th Cir. 2003)(Representing McKenzie, Rockwood obtained a reversal of the lower court’s dismissal of McKenzie’s claims against Detroit for a wrongful shooting.)

Rockwood has been listed in Marquis Who’s Who (America, Midwest and Lawyers), Who’s Who Among Students and has earned an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell® (Very High to Preeminent).

Rockwood was born in Chicago, Illinois, and reared in Clarkston, Michigan. He is married to Rae Anderson Bullard (an attorney) and has six children, including a son, Rockwood. Mr. Bullard's son is an Explosive Ordinance Demolition (Bomb Squad) specialist in the United States Air Force and veteran of Afghanistan War where he was engaged in classified missions including being imbedded with U.S. Army special units.

Rockwood has earned an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell® (Very High to Preeminent).