The Honorable Robert L. (Bob) Ullmann (Ret.) served for 12 years as a trial judge on the Massachusetts Superior Court, including over four years as Regional Administrative Judge for Civil Matters and then for Criminal Matters in Suffolk County, which includes Boston. As a trial judge, he handled a wide range of criminal and civil cases. Judge Ullmann's findings of fact on emerging adult brain development led to the Supreme Judicial Court's first-in-the-nation ruling in听Commonwealth v. Mattis听that sentences of life without the possibility of parole for defendants who were age 18 to 20 at the time of their crime constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
Before becoming a judge in 2013, Judge Ullmann was a trial lawyer for 30 years, litigating criminal and civil cases in federal and state courts. He served more than 10 years with the U.S. Justice Department, including stints as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of the Criminal Division in the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office in Boston. In 1994, Attorney General Janet Reno appointed him as a Senior Litigation Counsel, the senior trial attorney position in the Department of Justice.
As a partner in a Boston law firm for 18 years, Judge Ullmann handled a wide range of civil and criminal trials, from trademark and will contests to serious felonies. His courtroom successes included acquittals in healthcare and securities fraud cases of national import. He was also recognized by his听law firm for his extensive pro bono work.
Judge Ullmann is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the Boston Bar Foundation, the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, and the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission.
