We are grieved to announce the passing of Jim Cullen, an eminent human rights and real estate attorney who was a member of the firm's Real Estate and Construction practice until his retirement in December 2016.

Jim practiced in the real estate and construction law fields for over 40 years, negotiating contracts for projects including hospitals, schools and water treatment plants, including projects valued in excess of $500 million. He counseled numerous not-for-profit institutions and governmental entities to help them plan and execute projects to meet future physical plant needs.

Prior to joining Anderson Kill in 2002, Jim headed the construction and real estate department for Deforest & Duer. Previously, he was the Assistant Counsel to the New York City Educational Construction Fund. While at Anderson Kill, he negotiated landmark construction agreements on behalf of the Fund, committing developers to build new schools as part of mixed-used projects at zero cost to the City in exchange for long-term leases granting air rights. These included P.S. 59 and the High School of Art and Design, a combined school on East 57th Street in Manhattan, and Middle School 114 on East 91st Street, also in Manhattan.

Jim served for decades in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps in the U.S. military, beginning his service as an army private in 1969 after graduating from law school, and serving later as a brigadier general in the Army Reserve JAG and Chief Judge (IMA) of the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals. While in the U.S. Army, he represented a chaplain in the investigation into whether there had been a cover-up of the 1968 My Lai massacre in Vietnam.

Jim also worked for decades as a human rights advocate. In the early years of this century Jim was an adviser to Human Rights First, a group of retired generals and admirals seeking to change the administration's detention and interrogation policies. He was present in the Oval Office when President Obama, on his first day in office in January 2009, signed a series of executive orders banning torture and instituting a review of detention policies. Jim also served as Secretary/Treasurer of the New York Construction Industry Disaster Relief Fund, Inc.

Jim devoted his career to service -- to his country, to the City of New York, to hospitals and other nonprofits, to all his clients in the construction industry, and to human rights globally. We were proud and lucky to have him as a member of the Anderson Kill community. He will be sorely missed.

We offer his family our heartfelt condolences.

The Wake will be held on Wednesday, December 13 from 4:00 to 8:00 PM at McMahon Funeral Home, 491 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains, NY 10605

The Funeral service will be held on Thursday, December 14 at 10:00 AM at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, 5th Ave, New York, NY