Larry Cunningham is the Associate Academic Dean and an
Associate Professor of Legal Writing. He previously served as
Assistant Dean for Students and Associate Dean for Academic
Services.
In 2011, Dean Cunningham led a strategic repositioning and
reorganization of the Law School's career development efforts that
is providing more direct career counseling services to students,
integrating career preparation and career development throughout
the faculty and curriculum, and reconceptualizing the role of
externships in helping students pursue a rewarding path to the
profession.
Trained in Six Sigma (a process improvement methodology) and
statistics, Dean Cunningham has utilized these skills to improve
the effectiveness and efficiency of academic and student services
operations.
Prior to joining the St. John's faculty, Dean Cunningham was a
professor at Texas Tech University and held visiting appointments
at Stetson University, Texas Wesleyan University, and Brooklyn Law
School. He teaches Legal Writing, Criminal Law, and New York
Criminal Practice. In 2012, he received the Dean's Teaching
Award (large class). He combines a mix of teaching styles to
promote active learning and utilizes technology, such as Prezi, to further students' learning.
Dean Cunningham's scholarship includes research in criminal
justice ethics, appellate practice, juvenile justice, mental
health, and insurance law. He has been a frequent speaker on
legal education and other topics before bar associations, law
schools, and other organizations. In June 2008, he testified before
the United States Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the
Constitution, on the legality of laptop searches at the
international border.
After clerking for a United States district judge, Dean
Cunningham served as an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney in
Alexandria, Virginia, where he was in charge of juvenile
delinquency prosecutions. Later, he was an Assistant District
Attorney in the Appeals Bureau of the Bronx District Attorney's
Office, where he also coordinated the office's post-adjudication
insanity review cases and served as an on-call homicide duty
prosecutor.
Dean Cunningham received his J.D. magna cum laude from
Georgetown University Law Center, where he was Executive
Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal, Executive Director of the
Barristers' Council, and was elected to the Order of the Coif.
He graduated summa cum laude and valedictorian of
John Jay College of Criminal Justice. In 2012, he received a
Master Certificate in Strategic Organizational Leadership from
Villanova University.