David Surmier Cunningham III is a California attorney. He serves as

Los Angeles County Superior Court The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is the California Superior Courts of California, Superior Court located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States. The Sup ...

Judge in multiple assignments in family law, probate and in complex civil assignments presiding over products liability cases, labor related class actions and mass torts. He was appointed to the court by Gov.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

on January 22, 2009.

Early life

Cunningham is the son of

David S. Cunningham Jr. David Surmier Cunningham Jr. (June 24, 1935 – November 15, 2017) was a business executive who was elected to the Los Angeles City Council to replace Tom Bradley, who had been elected mayor that year. He represented the 10th district until 1987 ...

, a

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the Legislature, lawmaking body for the Government of Los Angeles, city government of Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the United States. It has 15 members who each represent the 15 city council ...

member from 1973 to 1987, and the former Bessie M. Cosey (Tiki). Cunningham graduated with his B.A. degree in Economics from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(USC) in 1977. He was awarded a

Root-Tilden-Kern Scholarship The Root-Tilden-Kern Scholarship is a full-tuition public service scholarship for students at New York University School of Law. It is widely considered to be the most prestigious public interest scholarship for law students in the United States. ...

by the

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

and graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from the school in 1980.

Career

In the fall of 1980, Judge Cunningham was admitted to the New York State Bar and began his legal career as an attorney in the Honors Program with the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

Civil Rights Division The Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. The division was established on December 9, 1957, b ...

, Voting Rights Section in Washington, D.C. He worked on the redistricting plan for the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

and tried several voting rights cases throughout the South. His work aided Congress in its decision to extend the

Voting Rights Act The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movem ...

another 25 years in 1982. In 1983, upon returning to California, Cunningham was admitted to the

California State Bar The State Bar of California is an administrative division of the Supreme Court of California which licenses attorneys and regulates the practice of law in California. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law ...

and served as a judicial clerk for the Hon. Terry J. Hatter, Jr. of the

United States District Court for the Central District of California The United States District Court for the Central District of California (in case citations, C.D. Cal.; commonly referred to as the CDCA or CACD) is a United States district court, federal trial court that serves over 19 million people in South ...

. In 1984, he joined the Beverly Hills Office of Finley Kumble Heine Underberg Manley & Casey as an associate. From 1987 to 1991, while simultaneously developing his practice, he taught financial institutions and trial advocacy courses at

Loyola Law School Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Jesuit university in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920. Academics Degrees offered include the Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Science in Legal ...

. In the early nineties, Cunningham grew his public law practice by representing municipal entities, redevelopment agencies, the

Los Angeles Airport Los Angeles International Airport is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles and its surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of California. LAX is located in the Westchester neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, s ...

, the LA World Port Authority,

Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (SCE), the largest subsidiary of Edison International, is the primary electric utility company for much of Southern California. It provides 15 million people with electricity across a service territory of approximate ...

and public utilities. In the new millennium, Judge Cunningham joined the California based law firm of Meyers Nave Riback Silver & Wilson as a principal, specializing in

eminent domain Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...

, real estate related matters and public law. Cunningham also served as a police commissioner for the

Los Angeles Police Department The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

from 2001 to 2005. It was a challenging time for the

City of Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3,878,704 residents within the city ...

, coming on the heels of the worst corruption scandal in the history of the Department, a rise in crime, and federal scrutiny of the city's policing practices. He served four years, becoming its president in 2003. In 2003, he was arrested by

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Ca ...

police during a traffic stop. The university subsequently settled the judge's lawsuit by paying $150,000 to Cunningham and his lawyer and $350,000 for scholarships. Cunningham continued his academic interest in the law serving as an adjunct professor since 2015 at the University of Southern California, Gould Law School, periodically teaching evidence to second and third year students. From 2016 to 2019, he served on the Executive Board of the California Judges Association. In January 2023, he assigned a lawsuit by

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

fans against

Ticketmaster Ticketmaster Entertainment, LLC is an American ticket sales and distribution company based in Beverly Hills, California, with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010, it merged with Live Nation under the name Live Nation Ente ...

to trial judge Lawrence P. Riff.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, David S. III Cunningham III, David S. Living people Superior court judges in the United States Year of birth missing (living people)