Our Story
Most legal bios start with a law school graduation date. Mine starts on the floor of a Kroger.
After graduating from Vanderbilt, I took a job in store management with The Kroger Company. Not because I had a plan, but because I didn't — and a management training program seemed like a reasonable place to figure one out. What I didn't expect was how much that experience would teach me: P&L responsibility, crisis management, the relentless pressure of customer expectations, and what it actually feels like when the decisions you make on Tuesday show up in the numbers on Friday.
From Kroger I went to Georgia State for an MBA. There, a business law professor named Ebb Oakley suggested I consider law school — and offered me a position as his graduate research assistant if I went. I went, mostly because it was free. I had no idea what a legal career looked like. I was just following the current.
During law school I took a job at KPMG doing state and local tax consulting. I stayed through graduation and about a year after, learning the fundamentals of tax-advantaged structuring and building my first real sense of what businesses look like from the inside.
I left KPMG for a law firm for four reasons that turned out to be correct: the work had stopped challenging me, I couldn't see the impact I was having on actual people, I felt a contraction coming in the state and local tax consulting market — and first-year lawyer salaries had just jumped to $100,000.
At the firm, I started as a tax attorney. But almost immediately, clients started asking me things that weren't tax questions. "I know it's not your area, but just tell me what you think." I heard that enough times that I started paying attention to who was asking. It was always entrepreneurs. Founders. Business owners who needed someone to think alongside them — not just someone to answer a specific legal question and bill out.
I leaned into that. And over 26 years — at Seyfarth Shaw,
Foltz Martin, Miller & Martin, Parker Poe, and now here — I have been privileged to serve as outside general counsel and strategic advisor to some of Atlanta's most ambitious entrepreneurs. I have helped them form companies, raise capital, navigate recessions, hire and fire, acquire competitors, and sell businesses they spent decades building.
The financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 was a turning point for me. A lot of attorneys lost their jobs. I did a lot of thinking. I came to the conclusion that I had been chasing the wrong things — measuring my success in hours billed and transactions closed, rather than in the real difference I was making to the people I was serving. I changed my focus. I became less interested in the mechanics of deals and more interested in the people behind them: the founder who built a company from nothing, whose employees depend on it, whose family's security is tied up in it. That's what I care about. That's what I've always cared about.
Since 2011, I have been an active member of a Vistage CEO group — meeting monthly with a close group of business owners and CEOs in Atlanta. Not many attorneys have that. It has given me a window into what entrepreneurship actually feels like from the inside, and shaped everything about how I practice.
I built my practice to be genuinely aligned with the clients I serve — structurally, financially, and philosophically. No billable hour pressure. No institutional overhead between me and the people I'm trying to help. Just good counsel, clearly priced, for people who are building something worth building.
Testimonials
A Few Words from Friends
A Trusted Advisor in Business and In Life
Over the course of a professional career, you encounter many capable individuals. A smaller number distinguish themselves as truly reliable advisors. And only a select few become both trusted counsel and personal friends.
For nearly two decades, Jeff Cunningham has been that person for me.
What sets Jeff apart is not simply his legal expertise, it is his ability to listen with intent, understand with clarity, and respond with guidance that is both practical and actionable. In a world where legal counsel can often feel distant, overly complex, or disconnected from day-to-day business realities, Jeff brings something different to the table - relevance.
Jeff has a deep and genuine understanding of the challenges faced by small and medium-sized businesses. These organizations operate in a space where decisions must be made quickly, resources are finite, and the margin for error is often narrow. Unlike larger law firms that tend to focus on scale and specialization, often-times at the expense of accessibility, Jeff operates with a level of engagement and responsiveness that aligns directly with how business owners actually run their companies.
His counsel is not theoretical. It is grounded.
Jeff possesses a unique blend of legal acumen and business insight. He understands not just the legal framework surrounding an issue, but also the operational, financial, and human implications. That perspective is invaluable. It allows him to provide guidance that is not only legally sound, but also strategically aligned with the realities of running and growing a business.
Equally important is Jeff’s approach to relationships.
His interest in his clients’ success is genuine. Over time, that authenticity fosters a level of trust that goes beyond a traditional attorney-client dynamic. In my experience, Jeff invests the time to understand not just the issue at hand, but the broader context of the business, the people involved, and the long-term objectives. That investment consistently leads to better outcomes.
In an environment where many professionals position themselves as advisors, Jeff Cunningham has earned his place.
He is consistent. He is thoughtful. He is reliable. He is a friend.
Bruce Grawert
Managing Member, IFM Consulting, LLC
I was referred to Jeff for some corporate restructuring work. Nothing too exciting. Years later, I went screaming back to him when I thought my professional world was being threatened. Jeff met with me, lowered my blood pressure to something approaching normal, and gave me wise council based on the law, not human emotion. The outcome was excellent. Jeff is a rock solid human being., wise beyond his years, and very, very good at his craft.
Besides being a damn fine attorney, Jeff Cunningham is a good human being. When I need his council, I feel certain he’s listening, and that he understands my perspective, making what can be a complicated and stressful situation easier to process. His confidence is genuine, but it’s tempered by his compassion.
Tom H.
Long-time Client
I have worked with jeff as my general corporate counsel for over 20 years. Some people dread working with lawyers (sometimes for good reason); I was one of those people - until I met Jeff! For me, there is nothing more assuring than working with a great attorney. Jeff has an innate ability to find order in chaos, to make complex issues simple., and to do these things with an impressive level of confidence and efficiency. His depth of knowledge and experience in general business matters is remarkable. I have worked with Jeff in guiding and shaping multiple companies over the years, and along the way he has been not only a valuable resource, but also a great friend. Many thanks, Jeff!
Alex B.
Client of 20+ Years
Credentials
Jeff Cunningham is a Partner in the Atlanta office of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP.
EDUCATION
J.D., Georgia State University College of Law M.B.A., Georgia State University — J. Mack Robinson College of Business B.S., Economics, Vanderbilt University
Recognition
Best Lawyers in America (27th Edition), Georgia Trend Legal Elite, Superlawyers
Civic & Community
Atlanta Humane Society — Finance Committee Chair, 2010–2016 Sarah Smith Education Foundation — Board Chair, 2010–2014, Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta, Vistage, Association for Corporate Growth, ABA Small Business Section
Bar Admissions
State Bar of Georgia
A Personal Note
My clients' success is the measure of my practice — not hours billed, not transaction volume. The businesses I serve employ thousands of people. Those people put meals on tables, buy houses, pay for educations, and contribute to the fabric of their communities. When I help a founder build something great, the effects ripple outward in ways that don't show up on any invoice.
I have watched entrepreneurs carry that weight for 26 years. They get up every morning and project confidence to everyone who depends on them — employees, customers, vendors, lenders, families. They do it because they have to. What I try to offer is the one relationship where they don't.
I have two daughters of whom I am enormously proud. My older daughter is a Georgia Tech graduate now in graduate school, pursuing a degree in quantitative psychology with her eye set on Drama Therapy — a field that is entirely, authentically hers. My younger daughter is a freshman at Vanderbilt, double-majoring in math and art, with plans to become an architect. Two different paths. Both completely their own. I couldn't be more proud of either of them.
I want them to be proud of the work I do and the clients I serve.
