Gallagher Sharp traces its roots to four Harvard Law School friends who in 1912 formed Bulkley, Hauxhurst, Inglis & Saeger in downtown Cleveland. Bulkley became a United States Congressman (1911-1915), and then a Senator (1930-1938). Inglis was a member of the Board of Directors of the Eaton Manufacturing Company, and H. Austin Hauxhurst served on the legal team conducting the Japanese War Crimes Trials in Tokyo in 1945 and 1946. Saeger left the firm in 1921 to return to Harvard, his alma mater, where he served as Secretary until 1934.

In 1920, Bulkley formed the Bulkley Building Company, and on May 10, 1924 the firm relocated to the sixth floor of the Bulkley Building where it currently occupies three and a quarter floors. The Bulkley building was unique in 1921 for having a connected parking garage and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 as part of the Playhouse Square Group.

The firm primarily practiced in the areas of corporate law, tax, and bankruptcy, and was actively involved in the bankruptcy litigation arising from the collapse of the Van Sweringen empire. The firm also represented Cyrus Eaton (Eaton Co.) and William Daly (Otis & Co., and a principal owner of the Cleveland Indians) in tax litigation in connection with the development of Steep Rock Iron Mines in Ontario, Canada.

In the 1960's, after the deaths and retirements of the firm's founding members, Frank Cull, and under his tutelage, Michael Gallagher, Clarence Mollison, Burt Fulton, Forrest Norman and George Stuhldreher, shifted the firm’s focus from corporate law to litigation, and to tort and casualty defense litigation in particular. Notable cases include the defense of the Governor of Ohio and the Ohio National Guard with respect to the 1970 Kent State shootings, the defense of the aircraft manufacturer in connection with the crash of New York Yankee Thurmon Munson’s private jet, and the defense of the aircraft manufacturer in connection with the 1992 crash of USAir Flight 405 at LaGuardia Airport. More recently, Gallagher Sharp has defended a large insurance carrier in first-party claims involving bankruptcies of South Korean steel mills, and a utility pole manufacturer in claims alleging damages in excess of $30 million bought by the City of Cleveland.

In 1975, the firm changed its name to Gallagher, Sharp, Fulton, Norman & Mollison (from Hauxhurst, Sharp, Mollison & Gallagher, and previously, Hauxhurst, Sharp, Cull & Kellogg), then shortened it to Gallagher Sharp, Fulton & Norman after the retirement and death of Clarence Mollison. On June 1, 2005, the firm formally adopted Gallagher Sharp, the name by which we have long been known in the community.

Having grown to over 55 lawyers, the firm is now organized into eight practice groups—General Litigation, Business and Employment, Professional Liability, Insurance, Transportation, Product Liability, Mass Torts, and Appellate. Extensive renovations to the firm’s space occurred in 2005, adding new conference room technology while preserving the 1920's Lincoln Lobby and architectural detail of Senator Bulkley’s private offices. In that same year, we registered the service mark “Solutions, Not Surprises” which describes how we practice law and serve our clients.