Notice

Mr. Cunningham is a trial attorney with nearly forty years of practice in the commercial law and insurance fields.  He has litigated thousands of cases in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.  He has written on various legal topics in numerous publications and law journals, as well as teaching or lecturing at Georgetown Law Center, the University of Maryland, the University of Virginia, and numerous CLE courses.  He heads his own insurance defense firm and has done so since 1970.  The Insurance and Commercial law Chair at Columbia University School of Law is endowed in his name.  He is a co-author of the Virginia State Bar Monograph on Insurance Law.

Representative Cases

Representative Clients

Year Joined Organization

• 1970

Areas of Practice

• Health Law
• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Contracts
• Business Organizations
• Employment Law
• Homeowner Association Disputes
• Ethics & Professional Responsibility
• Insurance Law
• Personal Injury
• Products Liability Law
• Professional Liability
• Administrative Law

Litigation Percentage

• 85% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Bar Admissions

• District of Columbia, 1965
• Maryland, 1978
• Virginia, 1985
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1970

Education

• Columbia Law School, New York, New York, 1960
  J.D., Class Officer
  
  
• University of Rochester, 1967
  M.A.
  Honors: Cum Laude
  
  
• John Carroll University, Cleveland, Ohio, 1957
  B.S., Class Officer
  Honors: Cum Laude
  
  

Published Works

• Attorney Protection From Malpractice Claims, The Journal of Civil Litigation, Vol. XXII, No. 1, 2010
• An Overlooked Defense to Professional Liability, (Co-Author with Steven C. Lippman and Michael A. Graziano), Maryland Bar Journal, 2010
• Attorneys Fees Incurred and Defending Non-Covered Claims, Brooklyn Law Scholl Journal of Corporate and Financial Law, Fall - Volume 2, #1, 2007
• Insurance Law, Virginia State Bar Monograph, 1st, 2d Edition, 2006
• "Attorney Malpractice Defense", The Journal of Civil Litigation, P 407, Winter, 2005
• Insurance Law, Virginia State Bar Monograph, 2004
• "ERISA, Some Thoughts", Arkansas Law Review, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 83-91, 1996
• "Declaratory Relief in Insurance Coverage Disputes", The Law Forum, University of Baltimore School of Law, Vol. 23, February, 1993
• "Recent Developments in Malpractice Litigation", Defense Counsel Journal, October, 1991
• "Collateral Source: Double Judgment or Double Trouble?", Washington Lawyer, pp. 34-37, March/April, 1985
• "Recent Developments in Insurance Law in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia", The Insurance Law Journal, January, 1980
• The Congressional Labor Agenda, Boston College Law Review, 1967
• "The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission", Labor Law Journal, pp. 131-136, March, 1967

Classes/Seminars Taught

• Adjunct Professor, Trial Tactics, Georgetown University Law Center
• Instructor, Civil Law, University of Maryland
• Lecturer, University of Virginia School of Business
• Instructor, CLE Courses

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Maryland State Bar Association
  Member
  
  
• Arlington Bar Association
  Member
  
  
• The District of Columbia Bar
  Member
  
  
• Virginia State Bar
  Member
  
  
• Maryland Defense Counsel
  Member
  
  
• International Association of Defense Counsel
  Member
  
  
• Defense Research Institute
  Member
  
  
• Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys
  Member
  
  

Past Employment Positions

• U.S. Army, 1st Lt., 1962 - 1964
• National Alliance of Businessmen, Vice President, 1969 - 1970
• E. I. DuPont De Nemour, Labor Counsel, 1966 - 1969
• US Chamber of Commerce, Legislative Counsel, 1965 - 1966

Fraternities/Sororities

• Phi Delta Phi