Jemima McCullum is a Shareholder in the firm’s Seattle office and a member of the Real Estate practice group. With over 24 years of experience practicing real estate law in Washington State, Ms. McCullum provides extensive experience in all types of real estate matters to property owners, developers, landlords, and businesses throughout the Puget Sound region.
Her practice spans the full breadth of commercial real estate, with a focus on commercial leasing, acquisition and disposition of real property, financing, development projects, and serving as general counsel to many of her corporate clients.
Ms. McCullum brings extensive experience in all types of leasing, subleasing, and brokerage transactions for both landlords and tenants in office, retail, industrial, and other commercial spaces. She handles large, complex leasing and purchase and sale transactions, as well as specialized issues that may arise in office, retail, medical, manufacturing, apartment housing and mixed-use projects. She regularly advises clients on structuring a transaction, tax considerations, entity formation, due diligence, entitlements, financing, and matters that arise during buildout and lease-up, and permitting, entitlements, construction, pre-sale and resale with respect to real estate projects of all kinds.
In addition, Ms. McCullum has extensive experience in all phases of the development of real estate. She represents developers, landowners, and investors in the development and construction of various projects, including residential plats, apartments and other types of residential developments, which may include condominiums, retail, restaurant, golf course, hotel and other mixed use projects, industrial, manufacturing (processing, packaging and distribution plants), automobile, medical, retirement, hospital, school, university, recreational, office, grocery, strip-mall, town centers, and other types of development projects. She frequently analyzes environmental issues, surveys, title issues, zoning matters, construction contracts, liens, bonds and related issues, tax issues, and much more. Some of her projects include public-private partnerships between municipal and private sector clients. These deals often involve development agreements, restrictive covenants, easements, access agreements, tax-exempt bond financing, opinion letters, and many other documentation and instrumentation.
Ms. McCullum also provides sophisticated and deep experience to her clients regarding finance matters on behalf of borrowers in senior debt and mezzanine bridge loans, construction loans, credit facilities, institutional warehoused loans, leasehold finance, tax-exempt and taxable bond financing, and private loans, all collateralized by real estate.
Representing developers with owners association formation, entity formation, condominium formation, construction contract review, permit application review, acquisition, financing, buildout, and sale
Representing for-profit companies and nonprofit corporations in an outside general counsel role, together with specialized assistance with regard to financing (and especially tax-exempt bond financing and opinion letters for nonprofits), leases, acquisition contracts, public-private partnership agreements, easements, vendor contracts, endowments, and other day-to-day operational matters
Representing businesses with a wide variety of business contract review, strategic advice, real estate leasing, financing, and acquisition or sale
Representing high net worth individuals with personal, family, and business transactions that involve real estate, tax-deferred exchanges, and other considerations
Representing homeowner associations with various corporate governance matters, enforcement, and governing documents
Representing borrowers in loan transactions involving real estate collateral, whether it involves construction loans, bridge financing, new loans, refinances, loan modifications, loan workouts, and advising clients on foreclosure considerations, guarantor pursuit, and post-judgment collection
Admissions
Washington
Washington State Courts
U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington
Education
Seattle University School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude
University of Washington, B.A. in Geography and Urban Planning, magna cum laude
AV Preeminent Attorney Review Rated by her Peers and Judiciaries of Martindale Hubbell, the highest rating possible, for Legal Ability and Ethical Standards, awarded 2025-2011, inclusive.
Excellent Rating by Avvo™
Named to the 2006 and 2008-2015 Rising Stars lists for Real Estate Transactions by Washington Super Lawyers™
Named among “Top Women Attorneys” by Washington Super Lawyers™ for 2012 & 2013
Named “Partner of the Year,” for 2010 by Gordon Thomas Honeywell LLP
Named “Top 40 under Forty in South Puget Sound,” for 2009 by The Business Examiner™
Named “2008 Chapter Member of the Year,” Washington Women Lawyers
AVVO & Martindale-AVVO Top Rated Lawyer with Superb Attorney Rating by the AVVO Martindale Legal Community for 2025, 2024, 2023.
Rated Top 1% of America’s Most Honored lawyers by the Top American Professionals of the American Registry for 2023 – 2015, inclusive.
Top Woman Attorney, Real Estate Law, 2013, as recognized in Seattle Magazine
American Bar Association
Washington Bar Association
Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association
King County Bar Association
Tacoma Pierce County Economic Development Board Member, 2023-Present
Tacoma Art Museum Board Member, Board of Governance Committee Member & Audit Committee Member, 2011-2017 & 2023-Present
WSBA RPPT Executive Committee, 2019-2020
Goodwill of the Olympics and Rainer Region Board Member & Finance Committee Member, 2008-2014
Arts Fund Member, 2007-2008
Highline College Foundation Board Member and Finance Committee Member, 2004-2010
Pierce County Washington Women Lawyers Board Member, Past President, and WWL State Board Liaison, 2002-2011
