Why Messick Lauer & Smith P.C.

MESSICK LAUER & SMITH P.C. is a law firm located in Media, Pennsylvania, comprised of attorneys who are advocates for the success of credit unions. We are not all things to all people. We focus on specific needs and success of our credit union and CUSO clients. We are recognized nationally for our work with CUSOs and our work with credit unions on consumer law compliance, vendor management, and lending issues.

With more than 25 years working with credit unions and CUSOs, including serving as General Counsel to the National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations, we have developed a close working relationship with credit union regulators. These relationships have enabled the firm to be effective advocates for clients with matters before the regulators.

Being at the crossroads of credit unions, regulators, and private sector innovation has enabled the firm to be involved in many cutting edge products and services. Many of our clients value this unique knowledge and perspective and call upon us to advise them on evolving trends and opportunities and to facilitate strategic planning sessions.

Our business philosophy is simple…

If our clients are wildly successful, we will be successful as well. We understand that our clients need answers and have deadlines. Credit unions want to excel at serving their members and CUSOs want to excel at serving their credit union clients. We do our very best to respond as quickly as possible with the services our clients need. We work hard to be a trusted advisor our clients can count on. The best part of our job is the development of long lasting friendships with many of our clients. We tell them our real job is to make them look good.

We do things differently…

When it comes to our fee structure, we take a different approach. We encourage the use of a retainer fee arrangement, 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 is more appealing to a client, we provide services accordingly.

But don’t just take our word for it…

To make sure we are meeting the expectations of our clients, we survey them annually. The feedback has been very positive over the years. We invite you to review our client survey results and client testimonials.