Government | Politics 2023: RICHARD CULLEN

COUNSELOR TO GOV. GLENN YOUNGKIN, COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, RICHMOND

Published August 30, 2023 by Virginia Business

After spending the majority of his 45-year career at McGuireWoods, Virginia’s largest law firm, senior partner Cullen is now Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s legal counselor. 

It’s hardly the first time Cullen has worked in the public sector — he served as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia from 1991 to 1993 and was the state’s attorney general from 1997 to 1998.

At McGuireWoods, Cullen was known for representing high-profile clients — such as former Vice President Mike Pence during special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. A University of Richmond law grad, Cullen spent more than a decade as chairman of McGuireWoods and is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court bar.

Raised in Staunton, Cullen is a graduate of Furman University and the University of Richmond School of Law. He also serves as chair of the Virginia Museum of History and Culture board.

FIRST JOB: Press secretary to U.S. Rep. M. Caldwell Butler, R-Roanoke

TRAIT(S) I ADMIRE: Honesty, directness and being positive

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