Online news: CSA approves law firm membership 9 February 2012

Law firms can now join the Credit Services Association as affiliate members after a narrow vote was passed by existing members yesterday.

Members voted 39 for the move to 35 against at the Association’s annual half-yearly meeting held yesterday (8 February) at Leicester’s Marriott Hotel.

Credit Today understands that around 12 other firms abstained from the vote, which paves the way for law/solicitor firms practicing debt recovery to become affiliate members of the Association (CSA).

It is understood up to 10 firms have expressed an initial interest in becoming affiliate members.

The next step for the CSA is to determine membership fees and initiate the application procedure.

In a reflection of the way the votes fell, the move has split opinion among members, with some welcoming the move, while others have criticized it.

Peter Wallwork, chief executive of the CSA, welcomed the passing of the vote, commenting that: “A majority is a majority”.

The CSA publicly announced it would consult its members on the issue in December 2011, and that a decision would be taken at yesterday’s meeting.

As affiliate members, law firms would benefit from things such as training schemes and lobbying, but at present, affiliate members cannot sit on the CSA board, which raises questions over the level of membership fees and the level of involvement in CSA decisions granted to law firm members.

The debate as to whether to allow legal firms into the Association began more than 10 years ago, but in that time, Wallwork believes the landscape has changed significantly: “Whether you are a large or a small, consumer or commercial collections organisation, the fact remains that it is a much more level playing field if law firms operating in ‘our space’ have to sign up to the same Code of Practice as we do,” he said.

Sara de Tute, president of the CSA added: “As we appear to be taking significant steps towards life under a new regulator, there has never been a more important time to present a unified voice across all areas of debt collection and that includes a new volume player in the shape of law firms,”

“Those in the outside world see us all as doing the same thing: collecting debts. It is critical, therefore that we all get the same message over to the new regulator and speak as one, powerful voice.”