A Royal charter amendment enabling legal executives to call themselves ’CILEX chartered paralegals’ has received approval from the Privy Council, the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives said today. CILEX president Yanthé Richardson described the move as ’a significant step to support people who have built careers in the legal profession in non-traditional ways’.
The Law Society said it is ’deeply concerned’ about the move, which it said paves the way to allowing paralegals to call themselves ’CILEX chartered lawyers’.
The amendment to the CILEX Charter will introduce the title of CILEX Chartered Paralegal, ’the first formal recognition of paralegals as a distinct profession with their own progressive career pathway’, CILEX said. Richardson added that the new status for paralegals ’benefits them, employers, consumers and also the wider public interest. This new cadre of experienced and accountable professionals will do much for the provision of legal services, by raising standards and also injecting greater diversity, given the unique make-up of CILEX’s members.’
However Law Society president Richard Atkinson said that Privy Council approval marked a further step towards CILEX’s goal of moving under the umbrella of the Solicitors Regulation Authority - an ambition pursued since 2023. ’We have repeatedly opposed the regulation of CILEX members by the SRA, due to the negative impact it will have on consumers, the wider public interest and the regulatory objectives,’ he said.
’We are deeply concerned to see the continuation of these proposals, with the Privy Council’s decision to approve CILEX’s amended charter, which would enable the redelegation of regulation. The ”chartered lawyer” title promoted by CILEX simply adds another layer of confusion and complexity for consumers.’
Atkinson added that the additional responsibility of paralegal regulation would harm the SRA’s ability to meet its duty to regulate solicitors, ’particularly when it should be focusing its resources and attention on the significant improvements to its operations recommended in the independent report into the collapse of Axiom Ince’.
CILEX said that the charter changes gave it permission permission to introduce of a new suite of CILEX chartered lawyer titles which will be open to chartered legal executives who have either completed the CILEX professional qualification or gained practice rights via the top-up route. 'While the charter change allows CILEX to do this, CILEX has not yet taken steps to introduce the new titles.'
It added: 'The two titles – CILEX chartered paralegal and CILEX chartered lawyer - are totally different. Paralegals will not be calling themselves CILEX chartered lawyers and chartered legal executives will not be calling themselves CILEX chartered paralegals.'
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