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  1. People

Brian Cullen

Of Counsel
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“I’m passionate about leveraging my industry experience and knowledge as tools to help clients successfully achieve their business goals.”
“I’m passionate about leveraging my industry experience and knowledge as tools to help clients successfully achieve their business goals.”

Brian is a well-respected and experienced transportation, logistics, and supply chain management attorney. He is a reliable and trusted resource for clients and acts as a natural extension of their company, providing solution-oriented counsel and valuable insights to their business, legal, and risk management matters. 

His personal philosophy is grounded in understanding his client’s business goals and providing clear and appropriately balanced counsel that assists his client in achieving those goals. It is this philosophy and his intricate knowledge of the transportation,  logistics, & supply chain industry that sets him apart from other attorneys. He regularly delivers legal and risk management solutions to manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, warehouse providers, distributors, ocean, air, rail, motor, and parcel carriers, logistics providers, and supply chain technology and e-commerce companies.  Additionally, Brian brings invaluable industry insights with his prior experience working as in-house counsel at one of the top ten largest transportation & logistics companies in North America. Brian leverages this experience and understanding of the complexities of the supply chain environment to help clients navigate legal, risk, and compliance matters while maintaining an eye on providing his client with solutions that will also achieve operational efficiency, provide enhanced value to their customers, and positively impact the client’s bottom line and grow their business.

Clients have continually trusted Brian with their most critically important transportation, logistics, & supply chain-related business matters. Throughout his career, Brian has counseled clients and negotiated multiple commercial agreements worth more than $1,000,000,000 annually.  He has also strategically guided clients through very complex regulatory compliance matters that significantly impact his client’s core business operations. When pressure or executive or board-level visibility are at its highest, clients have come to appreciate Brian’s calmness under pressure, strategic thinking, responsiveness, and battle-tested leadership which have resulted in his clients achieving successful outcomes.  

Brian also makes it a priority to proactively guide clients through the constantly evolving business and regulatory environment with the transportation, logistics and supply chain industry. Brian keeps abreast of the ever-changing technological landscape as the supply chain industry continually adopts new data-driven and business intelligence solutions, including artificial intelligence, enhanced visibility and tracking, dynamic pricing solutions, and electric, natural gas, and autonomous vehicles. Brian has also assisted clients understand the growing list of domestic and international regulations and sustainability strategies that seek to minimize or offset carbon and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across all modes of transportation and forms of distribution.  Further, Brian regularly advises clients on their nearshoring and U.S.- Mexico cross-border transportation opportunities and needs. When working within these new, upcoming areas within the industry, Brian anticipates the potential benefits and risks for his client’s key business decision-makers and helps his clients develop smart strategies to overcome any risk-related challenges and strengthen his client’s  competitive position within the marketplace.

Outside the office, Brian’s primary focus is spending quality time with his wife (a.k.a. “His Better Half”) and three rambunctious yet wonderful children. Brian is a proud born and raised Chicago South Side Irishman and is an avid student of Irish history and culture.

  • Contract Preparation, Negotiation & Compliance
  • Counseling/Compliance
  • Corporate Compliance & Regulatory Enforcement
  • Global Transactions
  • Environmental
  • Litigation
  • Transportation & Logistics
  • International Trade & Supply Chain Management
  • General Transportation
  • Retail & E-Commerce
  • Maritime Transportation
  • Air Transportation
  • Food & Beverage
  • Manufacturing
  • Mitchell Hamline School of Law, J.D.
  • University of Southern Indiana, MBA
  • Saint John’s University (Minnesota), B.A. in Management, Emphasis in Organizational Leadership
  • Wisconsin
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
  • Oneida Judiciary - Oneida Nation (Wisconsin)
  • In his previous role, Brian was a recipient of an award for operational excellence for his efforts at finding a creative solution to transport new intermodal equipment during the 2021 supply chain crisis The solution was featured in the Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/schneider-national-looks-to-charter-a-path-around-shipping-bottlenecks-11629997530

Highlights

Articles and Presentations
July 15, 2025
Jonathan R. Todd, Brian Cullen, and Robert Pleines, Jr. Publish Article in Commercial Carrier Journal | Trump’s emissions rollback: What motor carriers & private fleets must know
July 14, 2025
Benesch Transportation & Logistics Attorneys Featured in Commercial Carrier Journal
June 18, 2025
Trump’s Emissions Rollback: What Motor Carriers & Private Fleets Must Know

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News
July 20, 2023
Benesch Welcomes Brian Cullen as Of Counsel in the Transportation Group
Beyond the Office
Favorite Quote
"Be yourself, everyone else is taken" - Oscar Wilde
Hobbies
Being outdoors, Irish history, cooking, and cheering on Chicago sports teams
Favorite Vacation Spot
Door County, Wisconsin
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