Michael W. Ulmer

Michael W. Ulmer has the distinction of being inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers at the age of 42; has been listed by The Best Lawyers in America for more than 25 years in one or more of the following categories:  Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendants; Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants; Commercial Litigation; Legal Malpractice Law - Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants, and Bet-the-Company Litigation.  Over the years he has been named the Jackson, Mississippi, Lawyer of the Year in multiple practice areas by The Best Lawyers in America (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendants, 2011, 2019; Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants, 2013; and Product Liability Litigation – Defendants, 2014). Mike has tried one or more cases in 34 of Mississippi's 82 counties, tried cases in all divisions of the United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi, and has tried MDL cases in other jurisdictions.  His cases of note include Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell v. Seay, 42 So. 3d 474 (Miss. 2010), Hewes v. Langston, 853 So. 2d 1237 (Miss. 2003), Lincoln Electric Co. v. McLemore, 54 So. 3d 833 (Miss. 2010), Ford Motor Co. v. James Johnson, 988 F.2d 573 (5th Cir. 1993), and Nunnally v. R. J. Tobacco Co., 869 So. 2d 373 (Miss. 2004).

Mike is a certified mediator. 

• Admitted to The Mississippi Bar (1976)
• Watkins & Eager (1976-present )

• American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow (2004-08, State Committee of Mississippi Fellows of American College of Trial Lawyers, Co-Chair and Chair) - Retired
• AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
• Benchmark Litigation (2016-19, Local Litigation Star)
• The Best Lawyers in America, Jackson, Mississippi Lawyer of the Year (2011, Mass Tort Litigation)
• The Best Lawyers in America, Jackson, Mississippi Lawyer of the Year (2013, Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants)
• The Best Lawyers in America, Jackson, Mississippi Lawyer of the Year (2014, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants)
• The Best Lawyers in America, Jackson, Mississippi Lawyer of the Year (2019, Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendants)
• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America for more than thirty years in one or all of the following categories:  Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Legal Malpractice Law - Defendants; Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendants; Mediation; Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
• Chambers USA-America's Leading Lawyers for Business (2002-21, Litigation: General Commercial)
• Mid-South Super Lawyers (2006-19, Personal Injury Defense: Products (Top 50))
• Mississippi Business Journal's Top 50 Leadership in Law Class of 2010
• Who's Who Legal, The International Who's Who of Commercial Litigation (2006-17)
• The International Who's Who of Product Liability Defense Lawyers (2013)
• Mississippi Bar Foundation (Fellow; Board of Trustees, 2006-18)

• The Mississippi Bar (Litigation/General Practice Section, 1988-90 - Co-Chair and Chair; Professionalism Committee, 1994-96 - Co-Chair and Chair (Co-Edited the Mississippi Bar's Professionalism Handbook))
• Frequent speaker at Mississippi Bar Summer School for Lawyers on product liability, attorney malpractice, trial practice and professionalism
• Mississippi Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules (2003-06)