Gregory C. Ulmer

Partner

Houston
T +1.713.646.1363
F +1.713.751.1717

Overview

Greg Ulmer serves as BakerHostetler’s Product Liability and Toxic Tort team leader and is also a member of the firm’s Policy Committee, the firm’s governing body. Greg is a practicing trial lawyer with more than 25 years of experience. His practice consists of civil defense litigation with an emphasis on defending products, product manufacturers and distributors, as well as premises owners, in areas of product liability, premise liability, wrongful death, catastrophic injury and toxic exposure. He also assists clients in crisis management and emergency incident response, including governmental agency investigations such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Greg is an experienced trial lawyer with the ability to handle complex product liability cases in the most challenging and contentious jurisdictions. He has defended hundreds of cases from inception through resolution by dismissal, settlement or trial. Greg believes that his primary focus is to be a strategic partner with his clients, including understanding the client’s business, its people, and its products. This deeper relationship allows Greg to better anticipate client needs and work more in depth with the client to economically and efficiently resolve matters while also achieving the client’s business and litigation objectives. As a three-time letter winner and Ivy League champion on the University of Pennsylvania football team, Greg understands the importance of teamwork and the ability to adapt without compromising his competitive edge.

Greg’s litigation experience includes defending clients against claims of design, manufacturing and marketing defects; failure to warn; crashworthiness; breach of warranty; and other matters, including catastrophic tort and premises liability. Greg’s experience also includes advising clients in product safety and preventative counseling in an effort to help clients anticipate, identify, minimize, avoid and manage product and contractual liability risks.

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In addition to his litigation practice, Greg is very active in the Houston Bar Association (HBA). He currently serves on the HBA’s Board of Directors and has co-chaired numerous HBA committees. Greg is a former member of the Houston Bar Foundation Board of Directors and is a Fellow of the Houston Bar and Texas Bar Foundations. Greg formerly served on the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists (TBPG), as well as the Houston Police Officers’ Civil Service Commission (HPOCSC). The TBPG oversees the licensing, administration and practice of professional geoscientists in the state of Texas. The HPOCSC hears and reviews appeals of disciplinary actions and grievances associated with the classification system, promotion system, medical and psychological fitness for duty, and compensation system of classified officers in the Houston Police Department.

Greg is an AV-rated lawyer by Martindale Hubbell Law Directory (highest rating) and has been consistently recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer by Thompson Reuters in the area of civil defense litigation since 2012.

Select Experience

Product Liability
  • Manages product liability work for the firm’s relationship with a Fortune 100 construction, mining equipment and engine manufacturer.
Premises Liability
  • Obtained a defense verdict for a premises owner in a case involving catastrophic injury to a truck driver injured by the alleged improper operation of a lift truck at the client’s manufacturing facility.
Product Safety and Preventative Counseling
  • Advised clients on potential liability exposure when converting product manufacturing lines to medical devices to be used as medical countermeasures to the coronavirus.
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Experience

Product Liability
  • Manages product liability work for the firm’s relationship with a Fortune 100 construction, mining equipment and engine manufacturer.
  • Defending a global leader in climate control in a nationwide consumer class action concerning alleged defectives in HVAC units manufactured by the client.
  • Obtained a defense verdict for a hydraulic hose manufacturer in a wrongful death case involving allegations of design and manufacturing defects as well as negligent manufacturing and breach of warranty.
  • Successfully defended a heavy-equipment manufacturer in a wrongful death case. The company was accused of defectively designing the seat belt and restraint system on a piece of industrial earth-moving equipment.
  • Successfully defended a heavy-equipment manufacturer in a case including allegations of design, manufacturing and marketing defects associated with the manufacture of a tack rig attached to a track-type tractor.
  • Represented a heavy-equipment manufacturer in a wrongful death case involving alleged defects in a piece of earth-moving equipment’s electronic control system, transmission, and shifting and safety systems design and implementation.
  • Represented a heavy-equipment manufacturer in a product liability action involving alleged defects in a piece of earth-moving equipment’s engine and fuel lines.
  • Represented a heavy-equipment manufacturer in a product liability case involving breach of warranty claims arising out of alleged defects associated with a product’s undercarriage and track system.
  • Represented an international telecommunications/networking company in a case alleging the client’s utility pole was defective causing an employee to fall to his death.
  • Represented an engine manufacturer in a case including breach of warranty and product defect allegations associated with a fleet of engines’ exhaust regeneration system.
  • Represented an engine manufacturer in a case including breach of warranty and product defect allegations associated with the engine’s cylinder liners.
  • Represented an automobile component part manufacturer in a case alleging product defect associated with electronic control system.
Premises Liability
  • Obtained a defense verdict for a premises owner in a case involving catastrophic injury to a truck driver injured by the alleged improper operation of a lift truck at the client’s manufacturing facility.
  • Obtained a defense verdict on behalf of an international chemical manufacturer in a premises liability case arising out of an explosion at the company’s plant located in the Gulf Coast area.
  • Successfully defended a personal injury action in which the plaintiff alleged to have sustained injuries while working at the client’s parts and distribution warehouse facility.
Product Safety and Preventative Counseling
  • Advised clients on potential liability exposure when converting product manufacturing lines to medical devices to be used as medical countermeasures to the coronavirus.
  • Advised international product manufacturers on potential liability exposure associated with bringing products to market in the United States.
  • Advised client concerning the potential need for the issuance of a formal recall associated with end-user complaints of possible product failures.
  • Advised an international fruit and vegetable juice supplier on liability exposure related to a hepatitis outbreak alleged related to the supplier’s products.
  • Advised an autonomous automobile manufacturer on potential product liability issues related to supply chain component part and software suppliers.
  • Advised an international heater manufacturer on potential liability related to content and format of its products’ operations and maintenance manuals.
Toxic Tort
  • Manages an active statewide docket of legacy asbestos cases for an international specialty chemical manufacturer.
  • Represented an international technical professional services firm in a matter alleging materials supplied by the client to a government agency were defective and caused contractors working on the premises to contract lymphoma.
  • Represented an international chemical manufacturer in an action alleging the client’s pesticide product caused the plaintiff to develop lymphoma.
Commercial Litigation
  • Defending an international spectrum monitoring and management company in a multi-million dollar dispute involving agency issues, as well as breach of contract, failure of performance, and tortious interference.
  • Defended and won summary judgment on behalf of a global leader in climate control in a multi-million dollar franchise dispute.

Recognitions and Memberships

Recognitions

  • Martindale-Hubbell: AV Preeminent
  • Texas "Super Lawyer" (2012 to 2020)
    • Texas Super Lawyers "Rising Star" (2004 to 2009)
  • Houston Bar Association: President's Award Recognition for Outstanding Service (2006 to 2007)

Memberships

  • State Bar of Texas
  • Houston Bar Association
    • Board of Directors
  • American Bar Association
  • Defense Research Institute
  • Texas Association of Defense Counsel
  • International Association of Defense Counsel
  • PLAC (formerly the Product Liability Advisory Council): Sustaining Member

Community

  • City of Houston Ethics Commission

Prior Positions

  • Briefing Clerk for the Honorable Justice Jack Hightower, Texas Supreme Court (1994)

Admissions

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas
  • Texas

Education

  • J.D., University of Houston Law Center, 1995
  • B.A., University of Pennsylvania, 1992