Acso launches new trade body to champion £5.5bn claimant industry

The Association of Consumer Support Organisations (Acso) has launched a new sister body.

Called The Consumer Legal Association (CLA), the trade body aims to promote the ”positive impact of the £5.5bn-plus claimant legal industry on the lives of consumers, as well as championing the careers of the tens of thousands of people it employs”.

It will bring together law firms and other associated businesses to set a new benchmark for standards and to showcase the long-term benefits that its members have on the lives of those the industry supports, including those suffering personal injury, clinical negligence or other losses.

The body will also highlight the role the industry plays in providing development opportunities for its employees and the contribution member firms make to the wider UK economy every year, including through employing more than 10,000 lawyers and thousands more support staff.

Board of directors

The new organisation’s board of directors will be chaired by former Slater and Gordon chief executive David Whitmore and includes Shirley Woolham, chief executive at Minster Law, Peter Haden, chief executive at Fletchers Solicitors and James Maxey, chief executive at Express Solicitors.

Juliet Oliver, the former deputy chief executive and general counsel at the Solicitors Regulation Authority, is its independent non-executive director and Matthew Maxwell-Scott has been appointed as chief executive.

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.

“We want to influence and lead the debate on the future of civil justice, encouraging a collaborative approach wherever possible and promoting best practice.

“We expect to play a leadership role in the wider legal sector and it’s important that decision makers in the wider legal sector and in Westminster recognise the huge impact our members and the people they employ have on people’s lives every day.

”Our role will be to ensure our sector remains successful, continues to help those who need us and can offer a genuinely fulfilling career path.”