Brian M. Culnan

Brian is Of Counsel to the Firm, practicing with our Health Law, Labor and Employment, and Litigation departments. He has nearly 30 years of experience litigating complex civil matters in state and federal courts and handling administrative proceedings before state and federal agencies.

Brian represents various health care providers, not-for-profit organizations, physician practices, individual health care professionals (including physicians, nurses and pharmacists), executives, manufacturers, retailers, and proprietary schools. He has counseled these clients on a wide range of employment-related issues, including employment discrimination, discharge and termination, enforcement of restrictive covenants, protection of trade secrets and other proprietary business information, whistleblower and retaliation claims, wage-and-hour claims and investigations, and ERISA and other matters related to employer-sponsored benefits. His labor and employment practice has also focused on providing general employment and corporate law counseling, including the development and review of employee handbooks, conducting corporate compliance investigations, and performing reviews of corporate policies to ensure compliance with state and federal labor laws and regulations.

On behalf of his health care clients, Brian has litigated matters pertaining to hospital credentialing and discipline decisions; managed care liability; health insurers’ contractual rights of recovery; Medicaid reimbursement audits, investigations and appeals; professional misconduct investigations before the Office of Professional Medical Conduct (physicians) and the Office of Professional Discipline (nurses and pharmacists); governmental investigations of providers for possible violations of the federal Stark, HIPAA, EMTALA and ADA statutes; New York Department of Health proceedings based on a variety of issues, including alleged violations of the New York health care worker vaccine mandate; and Article 78 proceedings challenging governmental action and regulations. Brian has also counseled alcohol and mental health treatment facilities regarding the specific confidentiality requirements to which they are subject under federal and state law.

Prior to joining O’Connell & Aronowitz, Brian was a long-time partner at the Albany firm of Iseman Cunningham Riester & Hyde and more recently at regional firms Rivkin Radler and Barclay Damon. Active in the local community, Brian is a member of the Finance Committee at his alma mater Christian Brothers Academy; he previously served for twelve years as a member of the Academy’s Board of Trustees. He was also a twenty-year member and former President of Adirondack Board 36 of the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials.