Pierce E. Cunningham is a member of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates, because of his success rate as a trial attorney. Mr. Cunningham has been a prominent trial attorney for over 30 years, has tried well over 100 jury cases and has appeared in cases at all judicial levels including the United States Supreme Court. Currently, he concentrates his practice in environmental defense of mass toxic tort cases, products liability defense and complex commercial litigation.

Some significant cases in which Mr. Cunningham has participated are Ohio v. Samuel Shepperd and Bowes v. Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum (The Who concert litigation).

Mr. Cunningham is a leader in efforts to settle legal controversies outside the court system. He has been elected to the Regional Council of the American Arbitration Association and sits on the AAA Complex Litigation Panel for the Midwest Region. Mr. Cunningham is also a member of the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution.

Cincinnati's political leadership has long turned to Mr. Cunningham for assistance on key city planning issues, and major zoning controversies, using his knowledge of the city and its zoning regulations as well as his skills as a negotiator to facilitate equitable decisions in matters of long-term concern to the city. Since his first appointment to Cincinnati's Planning Commission by the then-Mayor in 1968, Mr. Cunningham has served as both member and chairman of the Commission during a period of unusual activity in efforts to rebuild the city's downtown. He was later appointed chainman of the city's Riverfront Advisory Committee, which spearheaded substantial redevelopment of the community's historic waterfront and has been a member of the City’s Urban Design and Review Board, which approves the architecture of major city projects. He was also president of the Cincinnati Zoning Board of Appeals.