Where to even begin? It's quite a hot topic at the moment with the very public spat between CILEx Regulation and CILEx, which has already been hugely reported. I think I speak for us all when I say it would have been nice to have been consulted and the fall out to have been far quieter.

I am a CILEx advocate specialising in criminal law. I am fiercely protective of my qualification and my title; I earned it. It upsets me to see the results of the survey carried out last year, and more recently see the backlash that CILEx members have suffered since the fall out between the two became very public.

I left sixth-form aged 18 with grades to attend university. Instead of going to university, I decided I wanted to start full time employment and so I chose the option to undertake the CILEx course and began working as a legal assistant for a small immigration practice. After a year I moved on to full time employment as a caseworker, aged 19, in a criminal law firm. I am now aged 32, a qualified CILEx advocate, and I am also police station accredited with my duty solicitor qualification. I am practicing for a national law firm with 14 years litigation experience under my belt. I have worked 18+ hour days and studied through the night. Despite this I have on one occasion in my past been asked why I was undertaking a 'micky mouse' course and not qualifying 'properly'. What is qualifying properly in 2022, with so many different routes opening: online learning, part time learning, apprenticeships and much more? Diversity and inclusion is paramount in every walk of life, let alone law. We act for members of society from all different backgrounds, age, and gender, so why should we be any different to that?

CILEx is a very versatile route to qualifying. It can be an extremely daunting route with little understanding, within the general legal profession, of the requirements needed to qualify. However, it is an arduous course consisting of many exams and countless portfolios.

After graduating as a member, I had to submit a portfolio containing 47 pieces of individual work to demonstrate I was able to qualify as a fellow. In order to even submit this portfolio, I had to complete an application form to confirm I was in 'qualifying employment'. To undertake the advocacy course, I had to submit an application and portfolio to be deemed eligible to sit a course. Read that again because it is worth repeating.

I am now practicing and after my first year will have to submit yet another portfolio. Despite the onerous and continuous appraisals, I appreciate the strict rules and requirements CILEx set for us to qualify. We have a high standard to reach, as do solicitors regulated by the SRA. However, by highlighting these hurdles it clearly demonstrates CILEx is in no way an easy route, it is not the easy choice, it is not a hobby for someone to pick up just because they have free time. It is hard work, it is rewarding, and it has a qualification title worth earning.

I am saddened to see fellow lawyers leave CILEx and cross qualify, but I can fully understand why. I am fortunate enough to work for a firm where I can fee earn alongside fellow solicitors, where my salary is based on my abilities and not my title. I am fortunate to be considered equal to that of my solicitor colleagues. If I cross qualified it would simply be because I wish to call myself a solicitor. Nothing else, for me, would change.

That isn't to say ceilings don’t exist for me in the profession. I have over a decade worth of experience litigating Crown court case so that litigating a murder case doesn't faze me, yet I am not able to obtain higher rights to undertake advocacy on even the simplest of Crown court cases. I can go up against a senior Crown prosecutor at court, but I can't join the CPS unless I hold a civil and family advocacy certificate. However, the ceiling is hopefully breaking down; I see CILEx has plans for the future. However, despite this I expect CILEx will for now continue to attract a stigma. The stigma that we aren’t as good as solicitors, we aren’t as worthy. It is 2022 yet this type of snobbery still very much exists. 

Please stand with us CILEx members, of all levels, whether you are qualified or enroute to qualification. We are equal to that of solicitors, trainees, and law students. We can do the job, and we do it well.

 

Zoe Heron is a Chartered Legal Executive Advocate at Reeds Solicitors LLP

 

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