Cal Cunningham is the founder and managing member of Cunningham Law, PLLC. He is an attorney, investor, business owner, real estate developer and community volunteer, with a personal and professional network that spans North Carolina. Cunningham has a broad range and depth of legal and business experience.
- As Vice President, General Counsel of WasteZero, Inc., Cunningham led the growth of a national environmental services company that contracts with local governments to implement recycling solutions. As the company’s manager of investor relations, he helped lead the team to raise over $27 million in equity capital and $15 million in debt financing, and was a key member of the company’s due diligence team. At his initiative, the company rechartered as a “public benefit corporation” in Delaware and was recognized as one of the Top-10 “Best in the World for the Environment” B-Corps from 2014 – 2020.
- As a civil litigator, Cunningham has conducted numerous federal and state civil jury and bench trials. Trained as a member of the complex civil litigation team at an international law firm and as a top civil litigator at a regional litigation boutique, Cunningham has represented a wide range of clients in high-stakes civil litigation. The subject areas of his clients’ disputes include: real estate, antitrust, contract, corporate, personal injury and property damage, securities, intellectual property and more. In his career as a litigator, he has faced-off against – and worked alongside – attorneys at the largest and sharpest law firms in North Carolina. His clients’ cases have been in the state trial courts, the North Carolina Business Court and each of the three federal district courts in North Carolina. Cunningham has also been recognized for his pro bono work by Legal Aid of North Carolina and by the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.
- Cunningham’s legal background also includes work as a federal and military prosecutor as a member of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. As a trial counsel at the Multinational Corps in Iraq, Cunningham led groundbreaking work prosecuting contractor crimes and sexual assaults. As a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of North Carolina, he prosecuted over two dozen felony cases arising from criminal conduct on Fort Bragg. Cunningham has also taught the law of armed conflict at the Army Special Warfare Center and School and been legal advisor to commanders of various Army Special Forces Groups and a Task Force in Afghanistan. His military honors include the Bronze Star Medal for the quality of his service in Iraq and the General Douglas MacArthur Award for Leadership, the highest award given for service and leadership to company grade officers in the United States Army.
- An engaged public servant and devoted Tar Heel, Cunningham was honored to run as the Democratic nominee for United State Senate in North Carolina in 2020.
- Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army Reserve
- Elder, Durham Presbyterian Church
- Manager, Axiom Property Development, LLC
- Manager, Cunningham Capital, LLC
- Member, Charlotte Angel Fund III
- Former Senator, North Carolina General Assembly
- Former Vice Chairman, Governor’s Crime Commission
- Former Commissioner, North Carolina Banking Commission
- Former Trustee, Davidson County Community College
- Former President, Exploris School Foundation
- Former Board Member, League of Conservation Voters
- Led WasteZero, Inc. to recognition as one of the Top-10 “Best in the World for the Environment” Public Benefit Corporations from 2014 – 2020
- Veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) with military awards that include the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (x3), and the Army Commendation Medal (x4)
- Recipient of General Douglas MacArthur Award for Leadership, the highest award given for service and leadership to company grade officers in the United States Army
- Inductee to the UNC Order of the Golden Fleece Honorary Society, Order of the Grail-Valkyries Honorary Society, and Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honor Society
- Recipient, Marshall Memorial Fellowship, German Marshall Fund of the United States
- Recipient, 40 Leaders Under Forty Award, Triad North Carolina Business Journal
- Recipient, Outstanding Young North Carolinian Award and Distinguished Service Award, North Carolina Jaycees
- Panelist on UNC-TV program, sponsored with Duke University’s Kenan Institute for Ethics, entitled “A Conversation Beyond the Scandals: The Question of Moral Leadership”
