Founding Director of the Center for Energy Law and Policy, William & Mary Law School; Former Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Former Chairman, Virginia State Corporation Commission
Mark Christie is the Founding Director of the Center for Energy Law and Policy at William & Mary Law School. He also teaches courses on energy law at the law school as a visiting professor from practice.
Christie is a former Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). He served as a FERC commissioner from January 2021 to August 2025, the final seven months as Chairman.
Prior to serving on FERC, Christie was the Chairman of the Virginia State Corporation Commission (Virginia SCC), on which he served as a commissioner for nearly 17 years. He was elected to the Virginia SCC, which regulates utilities, insurance and banking, three times by the Virginia legislature on bipartisan votes.
During Christie’s service as a state regulator, he was elected president of the Organization of PJM States, Inc. (OPSI), an organization of utility regulators representing the 13 states and the District of Columbia which participate in the PJM transmission and markets organization. He served for more than a decade on the OPSI governing board. Christie also served as president of the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners (MACRUC), a regional chapter of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).
Former Chairman Christie taught regulatory law for a decade as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Virginia School of Law and constitutional law and government for 20 years in a doctoral program at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Christie received his law degree from Georgetown University and his undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University, where he graduated Magna cum Laude and earned Phi Beta Kappa honors. To help pay for college, he worked as an underground coal miner during summers.
He served as an officer in the U. S. Marine Corps. Semper fi.
Over the course of a legal career spanning more than four decades, Richard Cullen has built an exemplary record of consequential public service and distinguished private practice.
Mr. Cullen joined McGuireWoods in 1977. His wide-ranging practice has included complex commercial litigation, high profile government investigations, and white-collar defense. He led the firm as Chairman for over ten years.
Since joining McGuireWoods, Mr. Cullen has taken leave several times for significant public service assignments. In 1987, he served as special counsel to U.S. Senator Paul Trible, Jr. during the Iran-Contra investigation. He was appointed by President George H. W. Bush in 1991 as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, serving until 1993.
In 1997, Governor George Allen appointed Mr. Cullen Attorney General of Virginia to fill the unexpired term of Jim Gilmore, who had resigned to run for governor. Mr. Cullen was a member of George W. Bush’s legal team for the Florida recount during the 2000 presidential election and Vice President Mike Pence’s legal team following the 2016 presidential election. Mr. Cullen has for the last four years served as Counselor to Governor Glenn Youngkin.
A Fireside Chat with Richard Cullen, Counselor to Governor Glenn Youngkin
Richmond Lawyer Chapter
Richmond, VA