Legal executives given wrong advice about litigation rights

The professional body for chartered executives was giving invalid guidance on lawyers’ litigation rights until as recently as December 2023, the Gazette can reveal. 

The website of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives was previously advising members that if they were employed in solicitor firms then they were authorised to conduct litigation. The guidance changed for unexplained reasons in December 2023, after which CILEX stated – and continues to state – that the Legal Services Act made no provision for unauthorised people to carry out litigation under supervision.

That latter advice was ratified in a judgment published this month which has sent shock waves through the legal profession. In Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys Mr Justice Sheldon said that employment by an authorised law firm was not sufficient for the employee to conduct litigation themselves, even under supervision.

The judge even pointed out that firms may be committing a criminal offence if one of their employees carries on a reserved legal activity without being entitled to.

The misleading CILEX guidance is indicative of the confusion among professional bodies and regulators that has existed over this issue.

The issue in the Mazur case was partly caused by the Solicitors Regulation Authority's advice to a law firm in December 2024 that its employees were permitted to undertake reserved legal activities. The SRA changed its stance during representations before the court, but the organisation has yet to make any public statement clarifying the position. Chief executive Paul Philip has said enquiries are ongoing to see if this wrong advice was given to anyone else.

CILEX declined to comment on why its guidance was altered in 2023 but does not deny that until that point its position was wrong. There appears to have been no public announcement at the time that the advice was being changed.

In a statement, the legal executives’ group said: ‘We are aware that many of our members are concerned about the recent High Court ruling and what it means for them. As such we have pressed CILEx Regulation for urgent clarification and further guidance, which we are told is imminent. We will be updating our members as soon as this is available, and we encourage concerned members to contact CILEX so that we can provide appropriate guidance and support.

‘This matter extends beyond CILEX and affects the wider legal profession. We will therefore be advocating for an urgent, coordinated response across all professional bodies and regulators to ensure consistency.’