Washington Connection in Hostile CU Bid

WASHINGTON – Lawyers representing Wings Financial FCU are downplaying connections between their powerhouse Washington lawfirm, Venable LLP, and the banking lobby, even as Venable represents the thrift lobby’s America’s Community Bankers and ACB’s vehement anti-credit union President Diane Casey-Landry is married to a Venable partner. Wings, which is pursuing Continental FCU in one of credit unions’ first hostile takeovers, is being represented by well-known credit union attorneys Bill Donovan and Bruce Jolly. “Our firm is representing Wings and I am working on the Wings matter,” Donovan, long-time NAFCU lobbyist, told The Credit Union Journal. But Donovan denied his firm’s role had anything to do with its work for the banking industry, noting it represented credit unions banks and many corporations all over the country.