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F. Malcolm Cunningham Jr. is the managing partner of The Cunningham Law Firm, P.A., in West Palm Beach. His practice focuses on business and construction litigation for contractors, sureties, public owners, insurers, and developers. He is admitted to practice in Florida and before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, and he holds an AV Preeminent rating.
Mr. Cunningham earned his B.A. from Fisk University in 1977 and his J.D. from Howard University School of Law in 1980, where he served as Associate Editor of the Howard Law Journal. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Joseph W. Hatchett on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
F. Malcolm Cunningham Jr. is the managing partner of The Cunningham Law Firm, P.A., in West Palm Beach. His practice focuses on business and construction litigation for contractors, sureties, public owners, insurers, and developers. He is admitted to practice in Florida and before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, and he holds an AV Preeminent rating.
Mr. Cunningham earned his B.A. from Fisk University in 1977 and his J.D. from Howard University School of Law in 1980, where he served as Associate Editor of the Howard Law Journal. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Joseph W. Hatchett on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
F. Malcolm Cunningham Jr. is the managing partner of The Cunningham Law Firm, P.A., in West Palm Beach. His practice centers on business and construction litigation for contractors, sureties, public owners, insurers, developers, and material suppliers. He is admitted to practice in Florida and before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, and he holds an AV rating.
Mr. Cunningham earned his B.S. from Fisk University and his J.D. from Howard University School of Law, where he served as Associate Editor of the Howard Law Journal and was invited to Law Journal in 1978. Following law school, he clerked for the Honorable Joseph W. Hatchett of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Admitted to The Florida Bar in 1980 and to the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits in 1981, Mr. Cunningham is a member of the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry (TIPS, Fidelity and Surety Law Committee).
Mr. Cunningham has represented public entities on significant infrastructure and facilities matters, including work on major wastewater treatment and criminal justice projects. Highlights include a federal jury verdict arising from construction deficiencies on a multi-million-dollar sewer system project and counsel roles connected to county capital expansion programs and municipal water and wastewater improvements. (Client names and case captions available upon request.)
For more than four decades, Mr. Cunningham has handled complex commercial and construction disputes in state and federal courts and in arbitration. His work includes payment and performance bond issues, defect and delay claims, extra work and change order disputes, public procurement challenges, lien and foreclosure matters, and insurance coverage questions that intersect with construction projects. He also advises public utilities and local governments on capital expansion programs, drafting and negotiating contracts and managing related litigation.
His public service includes a gubernatorial appointment to the Judicial Nominating Commission for Florida’s Fifteenth Judicial Circuit (2015 to 2020) and appointment to the Florida Growth Management Advisory Committee. Locally, he has chaired the Palm Beach County Criminal Justice Commission and served the City of West Palm Beach on its Code Enforcement Board and an ad hoc committee studying the strong mayor form of government.
Mr. Cunningham has written for and lectured to bar and industry groups, including the ABA Tort and Insurance Practice Section’s Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee and the Fidelity and Surety Law Committee, addressing coverage, surety, and construction litigation topics.
He has served on the governing committee of the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry, as Vice Chair of the ABA TIPS Fidelity and Surety Law Committee, and on the Council of the ABA TIPS Section.
Mr. Cunningham serves on the Trustbridge (Hospice) Foundation Board and has held leadership roles with Leadership Palm Beach County, the Suncoast Chamber of Commerce, and the Economic Council of Palm Beach County. He is a long-time member of Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church and has served on a Florida Bar Grievance Committee for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit.
