Professor Uelmen is renowned for his extensive experience in criminal law. He is most well-known for serving on the defense team for the trial of People v. O.J. Simpson in 1994-95; his account of the trial was published as Lessons From the Trial in 1996. Uelmen has argued several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and California Supreme Court, serving as pro bono counsel for patients asserting the right to use medical marijuana. Professor Uelmen is currently the Director of the Edwin A. Heafy Jr. Center for Trial and Appellate Advocacy at Santa Clara University School of Law, and served as the dean of the law school from 1986 to 1994.

Prior to joining the Santa Clara University School of Law faculty, he was a member of the law faculty at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, where he also served as associate dean for two years. While teaching, he maintained an active part-time criminal defense practice, participating in the defense of Daniel Ellsberg in the Pentagon Papers trial and successfully challenging the murder conviction of Gordon Castillo Hall. Uelmen has also served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, prosecuting organized crime cases. As a Prettyman Fellow at Georgetown, he did indigent criminal defense work while earning an LL.M. degree.