Larry Cunningham joined St. John’s as an Assistant Professor of
Legal Writing in 2008. He received his B.S., summa cum
laude, from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and his J.D.,
magna cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center,
where he was elected to the Order of the Coif, served on the law
review, and was executive director of the moot court and mock trial
organization. After graduating from Georgetown, he clerked
for the Honorable Claude M. Hilton, then-Chief Judge of the U.S.
District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Professor Cunningham had extensive practice and teaching
experience before coming to St. John’s. He served as an
Assistant District Attorney in the Bronx County District Attorney’s
Office where, as a member of the office’s Appeals Bureau, he
litigated post-conviction matters in state and federal court.
He was also the Mental Health Coordinator, supervising
approximately fifteen lawyers litigating post-adjudication insanity
review proceedings, and he served on felony-homicide duty, where he
responded to crime scenes, questioned suspects, and prepared search
warrants. Professor Cunningham was previously an Assistant
Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Alexandria, Virginia, where
he prosecuted juvenile delinquency offenses and gang
cases.
Professor Cunningham was a professor for three years at Texas
Tech University School of Law, where he taught criminal
justice-related courses and directed a criminal litigation clinic.
During that time, he was pro bono counsel in a successful,
high-profile appeal challenging the prosecution of pregnant women
for delivering controlled substances to their fetuses. His
work on the case led to the reversal of several convictions.
He has also taught as a visiting professor at Texas Wesleyan
University School of Law and Stetson University College of Law and
as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School.
Professor Cunningham has published widely in the fields of
criminal justice, juvenile justice, animal law, appellate
litigation, and legal education. His articles have appeared
in the Georgetown Law Journal, Syracuse Law Review, Quinnipiac Law
Review, and the peer-reviewed journal Criminal Justice
Ethics, among others. 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.
In 2008, Professor Cunningham established a blog on New York Criminal Law
and Procedure. The blog provides summaries of recent
decisions from New York's appellate courts, analysis of important
issues in New York criminal practice, and news of interest to
practitioners and judges about the criminal justice system.
Professor Cunningham teaches legal writing and legal
research.