Recent news of Northwest Federal Credit Union’s successful challenge to an ADA lawsuit may seemlike an omen for the industry, but it doesn’t mean similar cases against other credit unions willnecessarily end the same way — or that new suits won’t arrive, oneindustry attorney has warned.

Herndon, Virginia-based Northwest Federal Credit Union, whichhas $3.3 billion in assets and about 251,000 members, is one ofover 70 credit unions around the country that have been sued inrecent months over the ADA accessibility of their websites. OnFriday, Virginia District Court Judge Claude Hilton ruled that thecredit union’s website is not a public place of accommodation andthat the plaintiff in the case had no standing because he wasn’teligible to join the credit union.

“From my perspective, this Virginia court decision is the firstreally welcome infusion of common sense that we can use as a legalfoothold to stem the tide of these lawsuits,” attorney Chad Heckmantold CU Times. Heckman represents a Florida credit unioncurrently facing a similar ADA suit.

For other ADA cases against credit unions in the EasternDistrict of Virginia, where the Northwest FCU case was heard, thedecision could be especially significant, Heckman noted.

“Judges who are brethren on the same court, obviously they'regoing to talk about these cases a lot more. Now you have a judge weknow has this certain opinion, who may be able to persuade othersto go the same way,” he explained.

But outside the Eastern District of Virginia, the case’ssignificance is a little more ambiguous.

“I'm hopeful this decision and the reasoning in it, althoughbrief, are going to be adopted elsewhere in the country. But it'stoo early to tell,” Heckman said.

The case against Northwest FCU was dismissed without prejudice,which means the plaintiff could try to bring the lawsuit again inthe same court on the same issues but with a different complaint.There’s also a good chance the plaintiff will appeal the decision,Heckman said.

“There's a lot riding on this for them,” he said.

The outcomes of ADA cases outside the credit union industry mayalso affect what happens next. Heckman and other attorneys who havespoken to CU Times have kept a close eye on a case againstgrocer Winn-Dixie, for example. A recent ruling found for theplaintiff, but Winn-Dixie later filed an appeal in the EleventhCircuit.

“That decision may or may not take a long time to berendered…which is why you see the huge rush to file suit,” Heckmansaid.

“They want to get ahead of it, because if they get a baddecision in the Eleventh Circuit, that's going to govern,basically, the southeastern United States. That's not only going toknock out our Florida cases, but also the ones that have started inGeorgia,” he explained.

To date, at least 79 credit unions in nine states have been suedsince last September over the accessibility of their websites,according to a CU Times tally of court records.

In the meantime, the decision in the Northwest FCU case maycause some other credit unions to think twice about settling theirADA suits.

“I think credit unions who have low deductibles and they havecoverage are probably incentivized and emboldened now that we havea foothold,” Heckman said.

The decision usually involves the credit union’s insurer,though.

“In a sense, the credit union then doesn't fully drive the busbecause all the insurance policies provide that they can'tunreasonably refuse settlements,” Heckman said.

Many times, it’s a business decision.

“For a lot of smaller credit unions that I talk to, I can seethe overwhelming incentive to just make it go away,” he said.