GLENDALE, Calif. – Joseph Melchione, the pony-tailed surfer who built his law firm Styskal, Wiese & Melchione into the nation’s leading credit union law firm, died Tuesday at his home from lung cancer at 64.
Melchione represented credit unions for 37 years in specialties like CUSOs and board elections and was lead attorney for Continental FCU in its successful 2005 efforts to fend off an unwanted merger by Minnesota’s Wings Financial FCU, the first hostile takeover attempt among credit unions.
Melchione, whose firm grew to represent more than 350 credit unions, also served as a faculty member of Western CUNA Management School for over 25 years.
“While he was a force to be reckoned with as an advocate, he was a fair and compassionate man and generous with his time to help his fellow lawyers better represent credit unions,” said Guy Messick, the Philadelphia attorney who specializes in CUSO law and who co-chaired the Governance Sub-Committee for Credit Unions for the American Bar Association with Melchione.
