Mark A.Cunningham
- Position
- Partner
- Office
- New Orleans
Mark Cunningham is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group and co-team leader of the corporate compliance and white collar defense team.
Mark provides strategic advice to clients on competition and trade issues related to the structuring of national and global distribution networks, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and intellectual property protection. Mark also serves as first-chair trial counsel for companies and individuals under law enforcement scrutiny or facing bet-the-company litigation.
Mark is ranked in the first band — the top tier — for white-collar crime and government investigations in Louisiana by Chambers USA and Benchmark Litigation, Super Lawyers, The Best Lawyers in America, and New Orleans CityBusiness and serves as primary outside antitrust and compliance counsel for companies in a wide range of industries, including the petrochemical, energy, agriculture, financial services, insurance pharmaceutical, food, healthcare, and entertainment sectors.
While much of his work for clients is highly confidential, his recent public antitrust engagements include serving as lead trial counsel for the Sun Belt Conference in multi-district antitrust litigation challenging athletic scholarships, for the Sun Belt Conference in multi-district litigation seeking class action treatment for student athlete concussion claims, and for Stewart Enterprises in the merger clearance investigation of the $1.4 billion acquisition by Service Corporation International.
Mark also counsels clients on their consumer protection, advertising, privacy, and data security obligations under federal, state, and international law. His work in this area includes development and oversight of an electronic data export plan for a significant energy concern and counseling clients in privacy and advertising-related investigations and proceedings before the Federal Trade Commission, state attorney generals, and the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
In addition to his work for firm clients, Mark has dedicated much of his career to working on criminal justice reform. He has served as lead trial counsel in a number of high-profile lawsuits challenging prosecutorial misconduct and government overreach and was recently appointed by a court as co-lead trial counsel in a constitutional class action challenge to the public defender system in Louisiana. In 2016, Mark received the Orleans Public Defenders Award for Extraordinary Commitment to Public Defense after he obtained the dismissal of felony criminal charges levied against a defense investigator in retaliation for her public defense work.
In 2015, the lawyers of the State of Louisiana elected Mark to serve as the 75th president of the Louisiana State Bar Association. During his service as LSBA president, Mark worked closely with the Louisiana Supreme Court on the establishment of an Access to Justice Commission and on prisoner re-entry and other programs designed to end mass incarceration.
Noteworthy
- Best Lawyers®, "Lawyer of the Year," New Orleans Bet-the-Company Litigation (2023)
- Best Lawyers®, "Lawyer of the Year," New Orleans Litigation – Antitrust (2022 and 2024)
- Best Lawyers®, "Lawyer of the Year," New Orleans Antitrust Law (2011, 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2024)
- Best Lawyers®, "Lawyer of the Year," New Orleans Administrative/Regulatory Law (2013 and 2018)
- New Orleans Magazine, Top Lawyer (listed annually since 2018)
- Benchmark Litigation, Local Litigation Star (listed annually since 2022, also listed 2017–2015)
- Chambers USA, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations (listed annually since 2016)
- Orleans Public Defender Award for Extraordinary Commitment to Public Defense (2016)
- Louisiana Super Lawyers, Antitrust Litigation (listed annually since 2013)
- New Orleans CityBusiness Leadership in Law Award (2012, 2013, and 2015)
- Benchmark Litigation, Future Star (2014, 2013, and 2012)
- Pro Bono Champion Award, American Health Lawyers Association (2012)
- The Best Lawyers in America®, Administrative/Regulatory Law, Antitrust Law, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Antitrust, and Litigation – Mergers and Acquisitions (listed annually since 2009)
- The Pro Bono Project Leadership Award (2009)
- The Pro Bono Project Distinguished Service Award (2007 and 2008)
- AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating in Martindale-Hubbell
Clerkships
- Judge Charles Schwartz, Jr., US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
- Judge Sarah S. Vance, US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Teaching Appointments
- Loyola University New Orleans College of Law – Adjunct Professor of Antitrust Law
Professional Appointments
- Louisiana State Bar Association – President
- National Center for State Courts – Lawyers Committee
- Louisiana Supreme Court Judicial Ethics Committee
- Louisiana Supreme Court Post-Conviction Relief Ad Hoc Committee
- Tulane Law Review Senior Managing Editor
Civic Appointments
- New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute – Chairman (2017–2019)
- Louisiana Child Protection Representation Commission (2015–2016)
- New Orleans CityBusiness Leadership in Law Award (2012, 2013, and 2015)
- Louisiana Center for Law & Civic Education – President (2011–2014)
- The Pro Bono Project – Chairman (2009–2010)
- Tulane European & Civil Law Forum – Board of Editors (1996–to date)
- WRBH Radio for the Blind and Print Handicapped – Chairman (2007)
Experience
Mark served as the lead trial or appellate attorney in cases that led to the following reported decisions:
- Veritext Corp. v. Bonin, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 23010, __ F.3D __, 2018 WL 3949498 (5th Cir. 2018) (price fixing litigation)
- Jenkins v. NCAA (In re NCAA Ath. Grant-In-Aid Cap Antitrust Litig.), 311 F.R.D. 532, 2015-2 Trade Cas. (CCH) P79,381 (C.D.Cal. 2015) (price fixing litigation)
- Camsoft Data Sys. v. Southern Elecs. Supply, Inc., 756 F.3d 327 (5th Cir. 2014) (trade secret/antitrust litigation)
- Felder's Collision Parts v. General Motors Co., 960 F.Supp.2d. 617 (M.D.La. 2013) Trade Cases (predatory pricing litigation)
- Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center v. Marzan Lesnevich, 878 F.Supp.2d. 662 (E.D. La. 2012) (anti-SLAPP litigation)
- WebApps LLC v. Accelerize New Media, 847 F.Supp.2d 912 (E.D. La. 2012) (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act litigation)
- Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center v. Marzana-Lesnevich, 827 F.Supp.2d 668 (E.D. La. 2011) (anti-SLAPP litigation)
- Camsoft Data Systems v. Southern Electronics Supply, Inc.¸ 2 Trade Cases P. 78,017 (M.D. La. 2010) (trade secret/antitrust litigation)
- Belle Chasse Automotive Parts v. Advanced Auto Parts, 2009 WL 799760 (E.D. La. May 20, 2009) (security breach putative class action litigation)
- Cunningham v. Offshore Specialty Fabrications, Inc., 543 F.Supp.2d. 614 (E.D. Tex. 2008), aff’d, 663 F.3d 759 (5th Cir. 2011) (RICO putative class action litigation)
- Cordes & Co. Financial Services, Inc. v. A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., 502 F.3d 91 (2nd Cir. 2007) (antitrust putative action litigation)
- In re Issuer Plaintiff Initial Public Offering Antitrust Litigation, 234 F.R.D. 67 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) (antitrust putative class action litigation)
- Jama v. Gonzales, 431 F.3d 230 (5th Cir. 2005) (immigration law putative class action litigation)
Publications
- "Developments in Corporate Compliance and Enforcement," Compliance and White Collar Defense Team 2024 Mid-Year Report, 2024
- "Developments in Corporate Compliance and Enforcement," Compliance and White Collar Defense Team 2023 Mid-Year Report, 2023
- "2023 Antitrust and Consumer Protection Developments in Medical Device Manufacturing: Effectively Managing Compliance Risk in an Increasingly Hostile Environment," Medical Device News Network, July 13, 2023
- "4 Ways to Safeguard and Stabilize Your Supply Chain," Inbound Logistics, April 27, 2020
- "Strategies for Collaborating With Other Health Care Firms to Expand Production and Secure the Supply Chain," Jones Walker LLP Healthcare & Litigation Client Alert, April 2, 2020
- "Securing and Stabilizing Your Supply Chain," Jones Walker LLP Corporate Compliance Client Alert, March 30, 2020
- "Helping Clients Get Ahead of COVID-19 – Summary of Court Administrative Orders," Jones Walker LLP Litigation Client Alert, March 23, 2020
- "Treasury Identifies Oil and Gas, Petrochemical, Maritime, Financial Services, and Real Estate as CFIUS Focus Areas," Jones Walker LLP Corporate Client Alert, October 2019
- "European Court of Justice Invalidates US-EU Safe Harbor Framework," Jones Walker LLP Privacy & Data Security Client Alert, November 18, 2015
- "One on One with Mark A. Cunningham, 75th LSBA President," Louisiana Bar Journal, June 26, 2015
- "The Honorable Sarah S. Vance," Federal Bar Association Newsletter, May 26, 2009
- "Fiddling with the Residency Match Program: Plaintiffs Survive Motion to Dismiss Section One Price Fixing Claim," Jones Walker LLP Health Care Practice Group EZine, August 9, 2004
- "Merchant Portfolio Litigation Risks Management," Transaction World Magazine, September 1, 2003
- "April Showers for VISA and MasterCard: A Legal Perspective of the VISA/MasterCard Settlement," TransAction World Magazine, July 1, 2003
- "Lawyer Advertising Across State Lines: Should the Louisiana Supreme Court Act?" Around the Bar, Baton Rouge Bar Association, February 2003
- "Litigating Metatag Keyword Infringement Claims," The IP Litigator, May 1, 1998
- "Utilitarian Design Features and Antitrust Parallels: An Economic Approach to Understanding the Functionality Defense in Trademark Litigation," 18 Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal 469, January 1, 1996
- "A Complementary Existence: An Economic Assessment of the Trademark and Competition Law Interface in the European Economic Community," 10 Civil & European Law Forum 1 (1995), January 1, 1995
- "Preliminary Injunctive Relief in Patent Litigation," 35 Journal of Law & Technology 213, January 1, 1995
Presentations
- "Civil Discourse and Professionalism," Inns of Court on Teche Bayou, December 3, 2015
- "Counseling Clients on Effective Benchmarking and Competitive Intelligence Strategies," LSBA's New York, New York CLE, November 22, 2015
- "A Statutorily Mandated Rocket Docket and Other Surprises—What You Never Learned But Need to Know About Louisiana Antitrust and Unfair Trade Practice Laws," Louisiana Bar Association's New York, New York CLE, November 23, 2014
- "Antitrust and Unfair Trade Practices," LSBA's The Rhythm of Commercial Litigation CLE, April 25, 2014
- "Left Out in Louisiana: Addressing the Crisis in Immigration Representation," Human Rights First Conference, March 28, 2014
- "Leadership With Intention: Institutionalizing Diversity and Inclusion in Your Organization," LSBA Diversity Conclave, March 21, 2014
- "Race, Poverty and Public Defense: Gideon 50 Years Later in New Orleans," Orleans Public Defender Symposium, 2013
- "Introduction to Corporate Litigation," Association of Corporate Counsel, Annual Conference, May 24, 2013
- "How to Prepare Yourself and Your Expert," New Orleans Bar Association, Bench Bar Conference, May 3, 2011
- "Business Torts in Louisiana," Lorman Education Services, April 22, 2005
- "Structuring and Counseling Special Purpose Consortia, Forums, and Alliances," American Bar Association Antitrust Section Annual Spring Meeting, January 1, 2005
- "Hot Topics in Trade Association Law and Counseling," American Bar Association Antitrust Section Annual Spring Meeting, January 1, 2004
Education
- New York University School of Law
LLM, Trade Regulation, 1994 - Tulane University Law School
JD, 1992 - Claremont Colleges (Pitzer College)
BA, 1989
Bar Admissions
- Louisiana
Court Admissions
- US Supreme Court
- US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- US District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
- US District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
- US District Court for the District of Colorado
- US District Court for the Central District of Illinois
- US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
- US District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana
- US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana