Michael A. Cunniff

Michael A. Cunniff was awarded a law degree magna cum laude by Suffolk University Law School in Boston, and an undergraduate degree in psychology cum laude by Boston College. He is admitted to practice law in Maine and Massachusetts, as well as in the United States District Court for the District of Maine, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. In addition to having extensive experience in pretrial litigation and trials, Mike has briefed and argued cases before the Maine Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and he was lead counsel in a petition for certiorari considered by the United States Supreme Court.

Mike is an alumnus of the Edward Thaxter Gignoux Inn of Court, which is an organization of judges, law professors, lawyers, and law students who meet regularly in order to discuss legal trends in Maine's state and federal courts. He was a Bar panelist on the United States District Court for the District of Maine's Strategic Planning Committee, which assisted the Court in adapting its practices when resolving emerging concerns and otherwise facilitating the administration of justice in the federal forum, until its work was completed in 2009. Mike is a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of Maine's School of Law, where he teaches courses in trial practice, as well as sentencing law and strategy. He is a frequent lecturer and speaker on topics that are related to his law practice, including constitutional criminal procedure, investigative strategy and tactics, police liability, health care fraud and regulatory compliance.

Mike began his law practice in 1999 after 27 years of federal law enforcement service with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and its predecessor agency, the United States Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. At the time of his retirement from federal service, Mike, a Supervisory Special Agent, was managing a Boston-based multi-jurisdictional task force. Serving in permanent posts of duty in Boston, New York City, and Portland, and performing temporary duty in various locations, Mike investigated and supervised complicated cases that were often interstate or international in scope, or were designed to improve the quality of life in the communities where he worked, and included undercover assignments. As a federal agent, he was a regular member of prosecutor-investigator teams that presented complex cases to federal grand juries and then tried the indicted cases to federal juries, and he frequently testified as a percipient or expert witness in connection with those matters.

After completing his federal service, Mike worked in the litigation department of a large first-tier Portland law firm, where he became co-chair of the Technology, Security & Investigations Practice Group and the coordinator of the firm's criminal defense practice. In 1999, his firm arranged for Mike to work on a part-time basis as a Special Assistant District Attorney in Kennebec County. In 2002, Mike became a founding partner of what is known today as McCloskey, Mina & Cunniff, LLC, where Mike has gained a reputation as a superbly organized and tenacious courtroom advocate for his clients. Mike frequently provides legal counsel to professional and corporate clients that are susceptible to administrative, civil, or criminal sanctions because of the heavily regulated nature of their activities. He has also been retained to manage and conduct internal investigations for government and corporate clients.

Mike is a principal in The McCloskey Resource Group, a separate consultancy that emerged as a consequence of McCloskey, Mina & Cunniff's reliance on forensic technology as a litigation tool and its unique investigative approaches to support its casework. Mike is well-acquainted with e-discovery and computer forensic techniques, and he contributed a chapter entitled "Practical Considerations: Collection of Electronically Stored Information" to the 2009 Edition of THE COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO LOST PROFITS DAMAGES FOR EXPERTS AND ATTORNEYS (Nancy J. Fannon ed.). The son of a Boston police officer who was raised in the neighborhoods of Boston, Mike is a dual citizen of Ireland and the United States. He and his wife, Linda, have three grown children and reside in Scarborough.

Tel: (207) 772-6805

Fax: (207) 879-9374

Email: mcunniff@lawmmc.com