Amy Cunniffe joins DLA Piper

June 25, 2014 – DLA Piper announced today that Amy Jensen Cunniffe has joined the firm’s Government Affairs and Health Care Public Policy and Regulatory practices as a senior policy advisor in the Washington, DC, office.

Cunniffe is the latest senior policy advisor to join the firm, following former US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and former CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton, a group that also includes Former Senate Majority Leader, Senator Tom Daschle.

Cunniffe formerly served as special assistant to President George W. Bush for legislative affairs, charged with maintaining strong relationships with 77 bipartisan members of Congress as their personal liaison to the White House while leading the House effort on behalf of the president to pass H.R. 1, the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003. Earlier in her career, she worked as a legislative assistant to Congressman Dennis Hastert and as a policy assistant to the Speaker of the House for policy, among other responsibilities.

She joins DLA Piper after serving as the senior vice president for government affairs at Caris Life Sciences, a leading biosciences company focused on fulfilling the promise of precision medicine. In this role, Cunniffe was responsible for leading Caris Life Sciences’ public policy efforts and establishing the company’s’ office in Washington, DC. Cunniffe will continue to work closely with Caris in her new role at DLA Piper.

“Amy is a well-respected Washington executive with many years of leadership experience with top-tier governmental affairs organizations,” said Tom Boyd, co-chair of the firm’s Government Affairs practice.

"Her strong relationships with members of Congress, leadership, committees and staff and administration will prove to be of value to colleagues and clients alike. Her decision to join us is a tremendous boost to the Government Affairs practice and we are delighted to add her to our already talented team.”

“Amy is armed with decades of experience in the healthcare regulatory environment, both in the private and public sector,” added Mary Langowski, chair of DLA Piper’s Health Care Public Policy and Regulatory Group. “Profound public policy issues are driving changes in healthcare, and Amy will be instrumental in providing counsel to clients in this evolving landscape.”

Prior to Caris, Cunniffe served as GE Healthcare Leader for the Government Relations Team, building a world-class government relations organization with a track record that included building strong coalitions to advance sound policy alternatives in medical imaging, Health IT and the precision medicine sectors.

Previously, she served as a director at Quinn Gillespie and Associates, where she led the healthcare practice and provided strategic counsel and policy feedback to members of the US Congress and Executive Branch.

She received her B.A. in political science from Truman State University.

About DLA Piper

DLA Piper is a global law firm with 4,200 lawyers located in more than 30 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East, positioning it to help companies with their legal needs anywhere in the world. In certain jurisdictions, this information may be considered attorney advertising.