Marc Steven Cunningham

I have more than twenty-five (25) years of varied domestic and international legal experience. 

During my eight (8) years at the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (“Port Authority”), I authored, negotiated and administered three hundred fifty-eight (358) consecutive contracts, worth an aggregate of more than three billion dollars, not one of which resulted in even one dollar of litigation expenses.  A direct descendant of the very first boilerplate contract I authored at the Port Authority in 1992 – the Lump Sum Contract – was recently used as the primary contractual document for the construction of the Freedom Tower, at the site of the World Trade Center (in my office of which, on the west side of the Tower One 66th Floor, I had authored that original boilerplate Lump Sum Contract).  Also while I was at the Port Authority, I authored, negotiated and administered numerous leases and agreements for real estate and other complex transactions.

When I left the Port Authority to work at Foster Wheeler, Inc. (“Foster Wheeler”), I was able to broaden the range of my experience from just the Tri-State area to the international sphere.  At that time, Foster Wheeler was one of the largest international EPC (Engineer/Procure/Construct) contractors in the world.  During the first phase of my tenure at Foster Wheeler, besides performing my duties in the Litigation Division of the Law Department (managing complex international disputes and litigations), I was able to continue my transactional work, albeit mostly for international contracts.  I dealt directly with representatives of foreign governments, such as the Peoples’ Republic of China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Finland, to name a few.  Also at that time, due to the slowing economic climate, Foster Wheeler began experiencing serious financial difficulties.  As a result, I was asked to do some very interesting corporate work.  I performed Secretarial functions for numerous Foster Wheeler entities. I created and dissolved numerous corporations, almost on a daily basis.  I was intimately involved with the merger, acquisition and divestiture of many other entities, as our CEO attempted to find creative solutions to those financial difficulties.

Also while I was at Foster Wheeler, Inc., I was involved in the acquisition, sale and leasing of industrial facilities, commercial properties and office space throughout the United States and in various world countries. 

Eventually, Foster Wheeler suspended all litigation, so the Litigation Division of the Law Department was disbanded.  I was able to find a position as Risk Counsel in the Risk Management Division.  There, as the direct assistant to the Vice President, Risk Management, I was responsible for the procurement and administration of all the types of insurance required for all one hundred forty-five (145) Foster Wheeler entities throughout the world.  At that time, the financial institutions lending money to Foster Wheeler required Foster Wheeler (not only the headquarters entity in New Jersey, where I was, but also all the 144 other domestic and international Foster Wheeler entities as well) to be fully-compliant with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOx”).  At that time, no Foster Wheeler entity anywhere had implemented any SOx framework whatsoever.  The CEO personally chose me to be the legal director of this effort.  Within six (6) months (two months ahead of schedule), our team was able to implement a complete SOx framework for all 145 domestic and international entities.  Once implemented, two prestigious international auditing firms performed intensive SOx audits at all 145 entities, and our framework passed at all 145 with flying colors.  In fact, the CEO later told our team that in the first quarter after the implementation of our SOx framework, total corporate profitability rose by three percent (3%), directly as a result of the efficiencies we had implemented through our SOx framework.

Unfortunately, by that time nothing could save Foster Wheeler.  Eventually, the headquarters was relocated to Switzerland, and almost all of us remaining at the headquarters building itself were laid off in a Planned RIF (Reduction-In-Force).  At that time the domestic economy had already begun to implode.  Thus, almost nine (9) years ago, I decided that rather than attempting to procure another job at a corporation or law firm that might be terminated on a moment’s notice, I would try to implement a private law practice.  Since then, I have been fortunate to work on a very broad spectrum of projects in areas of the law to which I might never have been otherwise exposed, such as finance, compliance, corporate, IT, IP, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, real estate and grants, to name a few.  My complete work history is detailed on my LinkedIn page, at . I have worked both as an independent attorney in private practice, and as an “independent contractor” for lucrative long-term assignments.  In that capacity, I have been fortunate to be an integral member of the legal teams for some major real estate financing and litigation projects at large and prestigious law firms in both New York City and Philadelphia. 

Also currently in my private practice, I am the U.S. legal consultant for an international real estate development and financing entity. I have also successfully negotiated numerous residential loan modifications.  I am responsible for the complete oversight of the entire residential, commercial and industrial real estate transaction lifecycle, from survey and title work, pre-contract to post-closing, structuring and negotiating complex transactions, resolving business disputes, minimizing leasing delays, managing legal and paralegal work, structuring project entities such as corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs), partnerships and joint ventures.  I also have extensive experience with Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) transactions and litigation.  Finally, I have also been an integral member of the legal team at prestigious law firms in New York City and Philadelphia for some large-scale real estate litigation, acquisition, sale and financing projects.

I am currently admitted to the Bars of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, the District of Columbia, Maryland and West Virginia, and over the years I have practiced intermittently in all those jurisdictions for various projects.  These days, the main area of my legal work is the Tri-State area (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, centered around New York City).  However, in the past two years I have been fortunate to do some substantial projects in Pennsylvania and Texas, so I have begun the application process for admission to those Bars by waiver.

Thank you for your consideration.