Court documents (motions, briefs, appeals, affidavits), correspondence, police records, ephemera, photos, tweets, transcripts, notes, and newspaper clippings relating to the career of lawyer Dennis Cunningham.
The Dennis Cunningham Papers covers Cunningham's professional career from 1967-2019 in 45 manuscript boxes totaling approximately 22.5 linear feet.
This collection consists primarily of court and trial documents, drafts and annotations, correspondence, notebooks with commentary on cases, transcripts, research materials, newspaper clippings, photographs, and various ephemera collected during Cunningham's career.
Strengths of this collection include coverage of most of Cunningham's career with notable cases from his time in Chicago, New York, and California. More extensive collections feature materials covering not only the trial but behind-the-scenes processes such as meetings, research and notes, and settlements or payment. The collection also features a variety of notebooks detailing Cunningham's comments on cases and his challenges with the Bar Exam in the State of California.
Dennis Cunningham (1936-2022) was a radical lawyer who practiced law in Chicago, New York, and California, focusing on public interest and civil rights. He received his law degree from Loyola University School of Law in Chicago in 1967 and was admitted to practice that same year. While in Chicago, he was one of the founding members of the People's Law Office that specializes in public interest law, or cases involving injustice perpetuated by the government. In 1976 he was was able to practice law in New York. However he primarily practiced law in the state of California, where he recieved his license to practice law in the state in 1984. Cunningham represented clients in cases about environmental activism, political activism and injustice, police brutality, and prisoners' rights. Notable clients include Judi Bari, who was an environmental activist targeted by the FBI and police, who set up an explosive in her personal vehicle; the case resulted in a $4.4 million jury verdict against the government parties. Cunningham also represented members of the Black Panthers, including Fred Hampton, who was later killed by police that falsely covered up their actions; Cunningham and others worked to preserve evidence and demonstrate the cover up in court. He was also part of the Attica Legal Defense Team representing Akil Al Jundi, one of the survivors from the Attica Prison massacre, where survivors sought to seek justice for the state of New York's culpability in the incident; the case ended with a settlement in favor of the survivors.
Outside the court, Cunningham was involved in professional development including leading workshops to develop skills in the public interest law and participation in the National Lawyers' Guild of San Francisco. He was recognized for his work in several nominations and awards from the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, the National Lawyers Guild, and the title Northern California Super Lawyer in 2005.
