Maxwell Scott: Industry has not been good enough at representing itself
Claimant lawyers representing consumers, particularly in personal injury and medical negligence cases, have launched a new trade body – the Consumer Legal Association (CLA).
Its main aim is to “promote the positive impact of the £5.5bn-plus claimant legal industry on the lives of consumers”.
Though different in its goals, the CLA will operate as a successor body to the Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO), which will continue to exist mainly as the proposed class representative in collective proceedings against Amazon [1] on behalf of more than 45m consumers who bought products on its website from third-party sellers.
Matthew Maxwell Scott, chief executive of both groups, said “substantial contributions” from members would allow the CLA to carry out new research on the positive impact of the industry.
Claimant law firms were “around two-thirds female” and had a “good story to tell” on social mobility, but this needed quantifying through research.
“We’re sure it’s true, but without the numbers to back it up, it doesn’t mean a thing,” he said.
Politicians needed a better understanding of the industry, with further research planned on its contribution to getting injured people back into work.
The CLA will also look to highlight the “major contribution” member firms make to the wider economy every year, partly through employing “more than 10,000 lawyers and thousands more support staff”.
Mr Maxwell Scott said: “Our industry can speak with genuine confidence and satisfaction about the important work it does. The CLA will be the strong, constructive voice for its members and for people exercising their rights to make a claim when things go wrong.”
The CLA’s board of directors is chaired by former Slater & Gordon chief executive David Whitmore and includes Shirley Woolham, Peter Haden and James Maxey, the chief executives of Minster Law, Fletchers and Express Solicitors respectively.
Juliet Oliver, former deputy chief executive and general counsel at the Solicitors Regulation Authority and now co-founder of legal consultancy Passmore & Oliver Partners, is a non-executive director.
The CLA has also appointed Mark Duffell as head of policy and is recruiting a political adviser. Mr Duffell, a former head of communications at Irwin Mitchell, is currently a strategic adviser at North-West firm CFG Law.
Daniel Bates, senior legal policy adviser at ACSO, will devote some of his time to the CLA.
The CLA expects to recruit around 20 of the larger claimant firms as core members, with more coming from associated industries, such as medical reporting organisations and legal expenses insurers, and the possibility of “associate packages” for smaller law firms.
Mr Maxwell Scott said the industry had not been “good enough at representing itself”, which was reflected in the personal injury reforms and a “quite poor” reputation among members of the public.
To address this, the CLA has started work on a project which would “set benchmarks for behaviours”, to ensure that consumers were not “put off from making claims”.
The set of standards will cover everything from onboarding to how settlements are reached and legal costs.
Mr Whitmore added: “Our member firms and everyone who works in our industry are proud of the work we do for hundreds of thousands of clients in need of support every year.
“The CLA will be a powerful advocate for those people, as well as setting the highest standards for how all member firms operate.”