Who are we?
We are a law firm located in Media, Pennsylvania . The firm has three attorneys and two administrative staff. Click on the name for more information on our attorneys and administrative staff.
What do we do?
We have extensive experience in representing credit unions, credit union service organizations (“CUSOs”), small business clients and clients engaged in commercial and residential real estate sales and lease transactions. Our attorneys have provided services to hundreds of credit unions and CUSOs and we serve as General Counsel to the National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations (“NACUSO”). We are the liaison for NACUSO to the regulatory agencies with jurisdiction over the services provided by CUSOs and credit unions, including the National Credit Union Administration (“NCUA”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
Due to our experience and reputation in the credit union industry, we are called upon to be a source of strategic advice for credit unions that want to expand their services to members and/or obtain the advantages of working collaboratively with other credit unions or third party service providers. We are often asked to make presentations at national conferences and individual credit unions. The firm is nationally recognized in the credit union industry as experienced in certain subject areas, which include CUSOs, Incidental Powers, loan participations, privacy laws, and business lending and services.
Locally, we represent small business clients and clients engaged in commercial and residential real estate sales and lease transactions. We have represented the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce and the Delaware County Economic Development Agency, the Delaware County Redevelopment Authority and the Delaware County Industrial Development Agency.
How do we work?
We work as a team. We strive to provide timely, relevant, and useful services to our clients. We endeavor to develop strategic partner relationships with our credit union and CUSO clients. We encourage the use of retainer fee arrangements; a fixed monthly fee for all services within a broadly defined scope of services. We have found that the hourly fee relationship sometimes fosters a transaction type relationship and clients are reluctant to call upon an attorney as each attorney contact generates a fee. We prefer to have relationships with our clients that are collegial and collaborative in nature and find that the use of retainers is conducive to a trusted advisor relationship. In those cases where an hourly fee or one time fixed fee makes it more appealing to a client, we provide services accordingly.
We use technology extensively. We use email to transmit documents. Our retainer clients may access some of our standard agreements, polices and other documents on our web site in a password protected area. We have an annual meeting for our clients to network.
Who are our clients?
Most of our clients are credit unions and credit union service organizations (“CUSOs”). We serve as General Counsel to NACUSO . NACUSO is the national trade association for the credit union industry that provides an education and networking forum on how to work collaboratively through CUSOs and how to provide non-traditional services through a CUSO or through Incidental Powers. In order to reduce potential conflict issues, we do not represent non-CUSO third party service providers to the credit union industry. We also represent business clients and clients engaged in commercial and residential real estate sales and lease transactions apart from our credit union practice.
Representative List of Clients
COMING SOON
Why do clients use our services?
We know why our clients use our services, because we ask them in periodic surveys. Our clients tell us they use our services because:
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1.
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We know our practice areas very well. We live and breathe credit unions and CUSOs. We know the major service providers to the credit union industry and typically have negotiated our “Messick & Weber” version of their agreement on behalf of many of our credit union and CUSO clients. This knowledge shortens considerably our clients’ “time to market” for new financial services and new collaborations of every type. |
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2.
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Our industry knowledge enables us to understand the practical business issues facing credit unions and CUSOs. This enables us to better advise our clients on the risk and compliance matters. |
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3.
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With the perspective gained in our nationwide practice, our role as General Counsel to NACUSO and interaction with regulators, we are able to provide to our clients strategic advice as they consider what services to offer and the best model through which to offer the services. |
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4.
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We are service oriented. We return phone calls promptly and meet or exceed our clients’ expectations. |
What do our clients say about us?
Messick & Weber surveys its credit union and CUSO clients each year. The following is a summary of our 2008 survey and of the responses to the key questions:
| 1. Please check the persons at the firm who have provided services to you in the past year. |
| Guy Messick |
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76.9% |
| Katherine Weber |
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56.4% |
| Brian Lauer |
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25.6% |
| Mary Lou Super |
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20.5% |
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| 2. What is your opinion of our accessibility and responsiveness (timeliness of receiving and returning phone calls and emails)? |
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| Excellent |
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79.5% |
| Good |
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20.5% |
| Adequate |
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0.0% |
| Inadequate |
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0.0% |
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| 3. What is your opinion of our knowledge of the law and relevant subject matter? |
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| Excellent |
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82.1% |
| Good |
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17.9% |
| Adequate |
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0.0% |
| Inadequate |
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0.0% |
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| 4. What is your opinion of the quality of our written work product? |
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| Excellent |
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59.5% |
| Good |
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40.5% |
| Adequate |
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0.0% |
| Inadequate |
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0.0% |
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| 5. What is your opinion of the quality of our legal services generally? |
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| Excellent |
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73.7% |
| Good |
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26.3% |
| Adequate |
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0.0% |
| Inadequate |
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0.0% |
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| 6. What is your opinion as to the value of our services in relation to the fees paid? |
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| Excellent |
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64.9% |
| Good |
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32.4% |
| Adequate |
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2.7% |
| Inadequate |
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0.0% |
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| 7. Have our services met your expectations? |
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| Yes |
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100% |
| No |
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0.0% |
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| 8. Would you recommend our firm to others? |
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| Yes |
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100% |
| No |
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0.0% |
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| 9. May we use you as a reference? |
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| Yes |
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91.4% |
| No |
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8.6% |
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| 10. May we list you as a client on our website? |
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| Yes |
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85.3% |
| Good |
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14.7% |
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| 11. May we post your logo on our website as a client? |
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| Yes |
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66.7% |
| Good |
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33.3% |
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| 12. Would you like have information about you posted on our website to promote your services? |
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| Yes |
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41.2% |
| Good |
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58.8% |
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| 13. Would you like to have a link to your website posted on our website? |
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| Yes |
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44.1% |
| Good |
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55.9% |
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| 14. If our website has a comment section, would you be willing to consider supplying a quote? |
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| Yes |
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61.8% |
| No |
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38.2% |
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| 15. How do you view us (check as many as apply)? |
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| General Counsel Role |
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28.6% |
| Special Legal Counsel for Certain Subjects |
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71.4% |
| Strategic Advisor Regarding Credit Union/CUSO Industry Knowledge |
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62.9% |
| Educational/Networking Resource |
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20.0% |
| Other (please specify) |
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5.7% |
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| 16. What services or subject matter have you or would you turn to us for help? |
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| CUSO Advice, Formation and/or Operation |
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88.6% |
| Credit Union Incidental Powers Activities |
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37.1% |
| Loan Participations |
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22.9% |
| Business Lending and Services |
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20.0% |
| Strategic Planning Facilitation |
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8.6% |
| Credit Union Charter Changes |
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5.7% |
| Credit Union Mergers |
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14.3% |
| Privacy Law Compliance |
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25.7% |
| Third Party Vendor Agreements |
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60.0% |
| Investment and Insurance Services |
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40.0% |
| Trust Services |
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14.3% |
| Mortgage Lending Services |
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8.6% |
| Indirect Lending Services |
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11.4% |
| Credit Union Regulatory Issues |
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60.0% |
| Other (please specify) |
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5.7% |
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| 17. Would you be interested in attending a monthly networking meeting to enable you to share information with each other? |
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| Yes |
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62.9% |
| No |
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37.1% |
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| 19. Please rate the value to you of the following by placing a number next to the item. The rating system is as follows: |
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Significant
Value
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Good
Value |
No
Value |
Ratign
Ave |
| Accessing documents at www.cusolaw.com |
12.1% (4)
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78.8% (26) |
9.1% (3) |
9.1% (3) |
| Broadcast email to alert clients of items of possible interest |
26.5% (9) |
73.5% (25) |
0.0% (0) |
0.0% (0) |
| Networking through a blog on the CUSOLaw website |
14.3% (5) |
54.3% (19) |
31.4% (11) |
31.4% (11) |
| Articles on items of interest posted to the CUSOLaw website |
31.4% (11) |
60.0% (21) |
8.6% (3) |
8.6% (3) |
| Podcasts on items of interest |
8.8% (3) |
61.8% (21) |
29.4% (10) |
29.4% (10) |
| Web presentations or conference calls on issues of interest |
25.7% (9) |
71.4% (25) |
2.9% (1) |
2.9% (1) |
| Regional one day meetings for education and networking |
18.2% (6) |
63.6% (21) |
18.2% (6) |
18.2% (6) |
| Information on the CUSOLaw website on the services being provided by credit unions and CUSOs |
21.9% (7) |
71.9% (23) |
6.3% (2) |
6.3% (2) |
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How do we view our attorney-client relationship?
We view our relationship with our clients as strategic partners. We are a strategic and legal resource to assist our clients in meeting their strategic and service goals. We strive to learn as much about our clients as possible. We know that each client has unique characteristics that must be understood if we are to be a valuable resource. Our interaction with our clients is not transaction based but rather relational based. We look for the best resources to meet our clients’ needs. Sometimes that will mean we refer our clients to other professionals.
Who do we work with?
We understand that our clients’ professional needs extend beyond the services we can provide. We work with our clients’ other professional advisors, including other attorneys. We have a network of professional advisors with whom we often work collaboratively. As means of presenting coordinated, turn-key solutions for our clients, we co-founded the CUSO Advisors Network. Professionals we have often worked with include Tom Davis, Gene O’Rourke, Judy Sandberg and Brian Witt.
How do you become a client of the firm?
Just give us a call to talk about your strategic or legal needs. If we can help you, we will talk about a fee arrangement. If you can be better served by some other professional we work with, we will make that recommendation to you.
