Ruling demonstrates CMI is in full compliance with laws on behalf of clients and consumers.
9/17/2019 15:30
The CMI Group and its legal partner Malone Frost Martin PLLC received a critical verdict in recent legal action, a pivotal decision for the accounts receivable management (ARM) industry. The verdict defends The CMI Group and the ARM industry as a whole against claims, specifically as they relate to revenue cycle management, debt collection and the technologies utilized, the ACA International member company reports in a news release.
The CMI Group is an industry leader in accounts receivable management, customer care, revenue cycle management and omnichannel communications, and this recent ruling demonstrates the firm’s full compliance with all laws and regulations as well as their expertise and understanding of the industry on behalf of their clients.
Malone Frost Martin PLLC represented The CMI Group at trial in the Northern District of Texas for claims associated with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Texas and Kansas Fair Debt Collection Acts. Robbie Malone and Xerxes Martin tried the case with the briefing assistance of Jacob Bach. In the Dehn v. Credit Management, LP trial, the jury weighed both sides, including claims by the plaintiff that the collection technologies utilized by the defendant on behalf of their clients was a violation of the TCPA and Texas and Kansas state debt collection acts.
After presenting all The CMI Group’s training and compliance records, as well as call logs, collections notes and call recordings, the jury ruled unanimously in favor of CMI on all claims.
“We were confident taking this claim to trial because we stand behind CMI’s reputation in the ARM industry for their expertise, understanding and full compliance with all laws and regulations,” Martin said. “In fact, we made that the cornerstone of our defense on the state collection law claims.”
Most notably, the jury instruction for the TCPA claim included an adopted application of the D.C. Circuit Court’s ruling in ACA International v. FCC as to what constitutes an automated telephone dialing system under the statute.
“A pivotal question in the case was whether or not the telephone dialing system, an admitted predictive dialer, met the statutory definition of an automated telephone dialing system. The court correctly applied the case law in submitting the charge and the jury understood the issue,” Malone added. “This trial victory sets a precedent for the entire industry.”
The implications of this ruling are a milestone for the ARM and revenue cycle management industry, proving that the omnichannel communications technologies used by companies such as The CMI Group in debt and unpaid balance collections on behalf of their clients is in full compliance of federal and state laws.
“The CMI Group is a highly disciplined organization that has well-established processes, systems, and technologies in place to ensure they deliver both optimum results and positive customer relationships to clients, while remaining in full compliance with the law,” said Christopher Meier, Esq., general counsel and chief compliance officer at The CMI Group. “This ruling proved that—through all of our training and compliance policies—The CMI Group is viewed as a company intent on operating in a way that best protects the consumers we work with. I am grateful that we had excellent counsel who was able to convey that to our jury.”