NEW ORLEANS, June 12, 2015 – Jones Walker LLP announced today that Mark A. Cunningham, a partner in the firm's Corporate Compliance & White Collar Defense Team in the New Orleans office, was installed on June 11, 2015, as the 75th President of the Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA) during the organization's annual Meeting in Destin, Fla.

"We are proud of Mark being voted by his peers as LSBA president for the coming year," said William H. Hines, Managing Partner of Jones Walker. "As it has benefited our firm, Mark's proven leadership and vision will serve the Bar well as he continues to champion pro bono efforts along with programs that promote value and innovation in the delivery of legal services throughout the region."

As President, Mr. Cunningham will work to expand programs and services designed to provide attorneys with the tools to manage their practices and cost structures more efficiently. He will also be working with financial institutions to provide young attorneys with access to personal banking services and assistance with managing student debt. Mr. Cunningham also will focus on reaching out to business groups to promote economic development in Louisiana and respond to inaccurate or unfairly critical portrayals of the Louisiana legal system in the media. 

Mr. Cunningham emphasizes: "The LSBA has been and will continue to correct the record and stand behind our judges whenever interest groups attack the independence of our judicial system or its commitment to the rule of law." He has served in several LSBA leaderships positions, including president-elect, treasurer, secretary, Louisiana Bar Journal editor, and Executive Committee member. He has served on LSBA's Board of Governors, in the House of Delegates, as chair of the Lawyer Advertising Committee, and on the Committee on the Profession and the Client Assistance Fund Committee. 

Mr. Cunningham has been an adjunct professor of antitrust law at Loyola University College of Law since 2001 and serves on the board of directors of the Louisiana Center for Law and Civic Education, the New Orleans Regional Institute, and the New Orleans Bar Association. He chaired The Pro Bono Project in New Orleans in 2009-10 and received the project's 2009 Leadership Award and the 2007 and 2008 Distinguished Service Award. He was appointed to the National Center for the State Court's Lawyers Committee and to the Louisiana Supreme Court's Post-Conviction Relief Ad Hoc Committee. 

Mr. Cunningham received a bachelor of arts degree in 1989 from Claremont Colleges, (Pitzer College), a juris doctor degree in 1992 from Tulane University Law School, and a masters in law degree in 1994 from New York University Law School. He was admitted to practice in Louisiana in 1996. 

About the LSBA
The Louisiana State Bar Association assists its more than 21,000 members in the practice of law. The statewide association, as part of its multi-faceted mission, promotes and maintains access to justice initiatives for the state's residents, assists the Louisiana Supreme Court in its regulation of the practice of law, upholds the honor of the courts and the profession, and supports programs that increase public understanding of and respect for the law.

About Jones Walker
Jones Walker LLP (www.joneswalker.com) with approximately 390 attorneys in Alabama, Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, and Texas, provides a comprehensive range of legal services to a national and international corporate client base.

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