CLARK D. CUNNINGHAM
Law Firms
www.ClarkCunningham.org
EMPLOYMENT:
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW. Atlanta, Georgia. Professor of Law and W. Lee Burge Chair in Law & Ethics. (6/02 - present). Courses: Fundamentals of Law Practice, Transition to Practice,
PUBLICATIONS:
"What Do Clients Want From Their Lawyers?", 2013 Journal of Dispute Resolution 143 (Annual Symposium Issue: Overcoming Barriers in Preparing Law Students for Real-World Practice), excerpted in Teaching the Clinic Seminar (Jane H. Aiken, Deborah Epstein & Wallace J. Mlyniec eds. West Academic 2014).
“Should American Law Schools Continue to Graduate Lawyers Whom Clients Consider Worthless?”, 70 Maryland Law Review 499 (2011).
"Valuing What Clients Think: Standardized Clients and the Assessment of Communicative Competence" (co-authored with Karen Barton, Gregory Todd Jones & Paul Maharg), 13 Clinical Law Review 1 - 65 (2006); reprinted in New Currents of Law School Education 131-146 (Kwansei Gakuin University Press 2009) (excerpted and translated into Japanese).
"Legal Education After Law School: Lessons from Scotland & England," 33 Fordham Urban Law Journal 193 - 209 (2005) (special symposium issue on Professional Challenges in Large Firm Practice).
"Specialty Certification as an Incentive for Increased Professionalism: Lessons from Other Disciplines and Countries," 54 South Carolina Law Review 987- 1009 (2003) (co-authored with Adrian Evans).
"How to Explain Confidentiality?" 9 Clinical Law Review 579 -621 (2003).
SCHOLARLY AND PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS:
"Conflicts, Confidentiality and Representing a Corporate Entity," presented February 21, 2013, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP Annual Ethics Conference, Atlanta, Georgia.
"What Do Clients Want From Their Lawyers?", presented October 19, 2012, at Law Review Symposium on Overcoming Barriers in Preparing Law Students for Real-World Practice, University of Missouri School of Law, Columbia, Missouri.
"Where Will the New Law Jobs Be?", organized session on October 4, 2012 at the Annual Conference of the International Bar Association, co-sposored by the Academic & Professional Development Committee, Young Lawyers Committee, and Senior Lawyers Committee, Dublin, Ireland.
"Anti-Money Laundering, Ethics and Professional Judgment: A Teaching Exercise," presented March 9, 2012, Annual Meeting of the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel (ACTEC), Miami.
"Conflicts, Confidentiality and Representing a Corporate Entity," presented June 1, 2011, Sidley & Austin, New York City.
"Client Satisfaction and Effective Representation through Listening: How Hard Can It Be?," presented June 1, 2011, Sidley & Austin, New York City.
"Conflicts, Confidentiality and Company Law," presented January 26, 2011 to Dundas & Wilson, Edinburgh (Scotland's largest law firm).
“Ethical Competence: Preparing Lawyers for Substantial Client Responsibility,” organized and chaired three hour joint session of the Academic & Professional Development Committee and the Professional Ethics Committee on October 7, 2010, at the Annual Conference of the International Bar Association, held in Vancouver, Canada.
“When Ethical Rules Differ,” participated in panel presentation to the Professional Ethics Committee on October 4, 2010 at the Annual Conference of the International Bar Association, held in Vancouver, Canada.
"What Clients Want from Their Lawyers: Are Big Firm Clients Different?," presented in Denver on May 28, 2009, as part of a panel on Private Practice Lawyers: Economic & Organizational Structure of Law Firms at the Annual Meeting of the Law & Society Association.
“Professionalism and the Accredited Specialist” (co-presenter with Robert Pirrie, Chief Executive, The Society of Writers to Her Majesty’s Signet, Edinburgh, Scotland), Annual Roundtable of the ABA Standing Committee on Specialization, San Antonio, March 24, 2006.
“Using Specialty Certification to Promote Professionalism,” Annual Roundtable of the ABA Standing Committee on Specialization, New Orleans, March 26, 2004 (Keynote Speaker).
AWARDS:
2012 Annual Meeting of the International Bar Association, Award for “achievement of goals of noteworthy significance” on behalf of the Academic and Professional Development Committee. (“In recognition of the exceptional on-going web based initiative for the teaching of ethics.”)
SIGNIFICANT LITIGATION:
Alan Cohen as Trustee of Friedman's Creditor Trust v. Morgan Schiff & Co., 385 B.R. 381,. 446-62 (S.D. Ga. 2008) (opinion and order denying defendants' motion to dismiss, citing Cunningham expert witness affidavit for plaintiff on malpractice claim against debtor's former law firm). Law firm settled malpractice claim shortly after this decision, 394 B.R. 623, 634 (S.D. Ga. 4/16/08). See also In Re Friedman's Inc. Derivative Litigation, 386 F.Supp 1355, 385 F.Supp 1345 (N.D. Ga 2005) (related case).
McKesson Information Solutions LLC v. Duane Morris LLP (Fulton County Superior Court, Georgia) (Order of Disqualification November 8, 2006) (as independent expert, testified that purported waiver of future conflicts in engagement letter was inconsistent with Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct).
Snapping Shoals Elec. Membership Corp. v. RLI Ins. Corp., 2006 WestLaw 1877078 (N.D.Ga. 2006)(order disqualifying major national law firm for conflict of interest) (served as expert witness in support of motion to disqualify)
OTHER EXPERIENCE:
Member, Board of Directors and Executive Committee, Lawyers for Equal Justice, Inc. (Georgia State University representative to non-profit corporation supported by the State Bar of Georgia and all five Georgia law schools to provide post-graduate training and support to recent law school graduates committed to serving low and moderate income persons)(2015 – present).
International Bar Association, Academic & Professional Development Committee, Vice-Chair (2011-14), Advisory Board (2015-present).
Member, The Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism, Supreme Court of Georgia (Georgia State University representative) (August 2002 - present).
Academic Consultant to the Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet in the development of a new specialty accreditation program for lawyers in Scotland. The Society, one of the oldest professional bodies in the world, is an independent membership organization for lawyers based in Edinburgh (2005-2009).