James A. Ullman ’71

James Ullman was the “umpteenth generation” of his family born in Buffalo. His grandfather was a professor of medicine at UB and his father was a physician. His mother came from New York City. After graduating from Riverside High School, he enrolled at the University of Michigan, graduating in 1968. The Vietnam War was raging, and he aspired to be a cryptanalyst for the National Security Administration to avoid service in Vietnam.

He applied to only one law school, UB, and was admitted—but neglected to pay the $50 deposit. When a medical deferment kept him home, his father paid his law school deposit. Except for a brother-in-law, he knew few lawyers and did not have a particular passion for going into law.

He lived at home and commuted to the downtown campus on Eagle Street for two of the three years. His 1L class had 120 students. He was proud that 50 percent were women, that he had a female study partner “who was probably smarter than me” and that the school was progressive. His classmates were congenial people—not dog-eat-dog competitive. They helped one another to the extent they could. His favorite professors included Adolf Homburger; Joseph Laufer, whom he described as “dramatic”; and Paul Goldstein. He “loved” Professor Jacob Hyman.

Ulmann had fun competing in Moot Court. He became a clerk for Erie County Family Court, which he found meaningful. Those two experiences helped him feel comfortable on his feet, although litigation was not his path. His career veered to administrative law and later transactional law.

In the fall of 1971 he moved to Phoenix, Ariz. A mentorship in Superior Court, followed by a clerkship on the Court of Appeals with a prominent judge, helped him integrate into the Phoenix legal community. He opened a practice in 1973, and after three years, a client encouraged him to become an in-house attorney. In 1984, when the company was sold, he spent the next 10 years building a solo practice.

Ullman had become involved in the community, representing school districts. He was appointed to the Arizona state Board of Education by two governors. In 1995, he became president of the state board. Feeling there was a conflict between advocating for school districts and being a policymaker at that level, he decided to become a franchising attorney. Ullman had learned about franchising as an in-house lawyer in 1979 when the federal franchising law was passed. He has since built a successful career in franchising, licensing for distribution and trademark law.