Cullen Werwie assists in the design of public and private companies on employee benefits and executive compensation matters, with a practice balanced across executive compensation counseling, M&A deal support, and ongoing ERISA and qualified plan work. On the transactional side, Cullen assists in preparing Section 280G analyses and the shareholder cleansing vote process, benefits and executive compensation diligence,  transaction bonus and retention arrangements, and plan terminations and assumptions in connection with mergers, acquisitions, and dispositions. On the executive compensation side, his work spans equity incentive plan design, employment, severance, and change-in-control agreements, and Section 409A and nonqualified deferred compensation matters

Cullen is a founding member of Foley’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation AI Committee, where use-case testing, governance, training, and the coordination of best practices is developed — including a disciplined view of where AI should not be used.

Before law school, Cullen served as director of operations for a health insurance company, directing vendor negotiations and contracting, managing the account retention team, and supporting the company’s restructuring from a joint venture to a wholly owned health system subsidiary. He previously worked for the State of Wisconsin, including as the Governor’s spokesperson.

Outside of the office, Cullen builds agentic AI tools and enjoys spends time with his wife and two children.