SAN FRANCISCO - In an effort to promote its image and woo otherattorneys who may not be aware of its existence, the Credit UnionCommittee of the business law section of the American BarAssociation will soon start offering free legal services tonewly-chartered credit unions. The measure, approved by thecommittee during its meeting at the ABA's annual conference held inAugust, will match up attorneys with credit unions and providecounsel for a period of one year on a volunteer basis, said BrianWitt, chairman of the 120-member ABA Credit Union Committee. TULIPCredit Union is scheduled to be among the first to receive outsidelegal support. "There are a number of new credit unions out therelooking for resources and as a group, we should be willing to offerour services," Witt said. The San Francisco agenda also contained anumber of timely industry topics including updates on the InternalRevenue Service's Unrelated Business Income Tax in various statesand credit union compliance with the U.S. Patriot Act. Given thedevelopments in federal preemption of state consumer lending laws,the committee will also prepare a white paper on the topic to bepublished in early 2004. Witt said because there is no "globaluniform law that clarifies whether state consumer protection lawsshould be applied to federal credit unions," each case is looked aton an individual basis. Witt said collectively, the group has notissued comment letters on industry concerns but individually,members have spoken out on issues such as overdraft protection,saying "the hidden, unquantifiable costs of not covering overdraftscould be more insidious than the overdraft fees now imposed undercurrent disclosure laws." They've also commented on strategies forcredit unions dealing with Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptciesand ways to serve personnel who are called to active duty or whoare returning under the Uniformed Services Employment andReemployment Rights Act. Meanwhile, the ABA celebrated a first whenit elected Dennis Archer, a former Michigan Supreme Court Justiceand mayor of Detroit to become the only African-American to headthe legal group in its 125-year history. In a 2002 council report,the Credit Union Committee said the reestablishment of itsmembership committee will actively seek out new members, especiallywomen and minority attorneys to increase diversity. Witt said thegroup "is one of the most diverse" committees under ABA and hasencouraged attorneys from all walks of life to join. "It's alwaysan ongoing goal of ours to reach out to more attorneys," Witt saidof the credit union legal group formed in 1978. "I think (Archer's)tenure will continue to bring strong leadership especiallyregarding diversity." Members of the ABA Credit Union Committee,who are also members in good standing with the ABA, belong to threesubcommittees - operations, supervision and electronictransactions. The ABA has more than 50 committees representingvarious professions. [email protected]