Practice rights: CILEX answers your questions

With the new assessment-only route to obtaining practice rights now open, CILEX answers your questions on what is involved, how much it will cost, options for those members who are not eligible and use of the CILEX Lawyer title. 

Why should I obtain practice rights?

CILEX strongly recommends that Fellows who do not already have practice rights, apply for the relevant practice rights in their area. It is this that allows CILEX Fellows to practise with equivalence to solicitors in areas of reserved work.

A Chartered Legal Executive without independent practice rights requires the supervision of a solicitor to undertake reserved legal work. 

Digitisation and changes to the way in which legal services are delivered has placed greater scrutiny on employers’ use of non-authorised persons for reserved or regulated activities. Members are already experiencing situations where they can no longer practise with the same level of freedom as they once did.

Examples include the Land Registry definition of ‘conveyancer’ only including those who are authorised for reserved instrument activities, the shift to online portals, and the recent move by the Probate Registry to online applications which need to be completed by authorised persons. This has led to Chartered Legal Executives needing to ask solicitor colleagues to oversee or certify their work.

This can all be avoided by obtaining practice rights and operating independently as a CILEX Lawyer.

What is a CILEX Lawyer?

A CILEX Lawyer is a practising Fellow who is qualified through CILEX and can practise independently with equivalence to a solicitor or other authorised person in their specialist area of practice.

CILEX Lawyers can work without the need for supervision from a solicitor or other authorised person when undertaking reserved activities in the area in which they specialise. CILEX Lawyer is a designation which reflects this equivalent status and assures employers and clients that those qualified through CILEX can deliver the same specialist services as their peers who qualified through the solicitor route.

Full recognition in both legislation and policy of CILEX Lawyers as having equivalent status and competence to their solicitor counterparts is a key pillar of CILEX’s public affairs work and its manifesto for change that is being discussed with the government.

What can I do as a Chartered Legal Executive to be eligible to use the title CILEX Lawyer?

As a Chartered Legal Executive, you will be permitted to call yourself a CILEX Lawyer if you:

• Already hold practice rights in your specialist practice area (this does not include those who are currently authorised for advocacy in criminal, civil or family); or
• Sign up to complete the practice rights assessment by 31 December 2023; or
• Make a declaration, and thereafter make such a declaration annually (and when changing job role), that you do not work in an area which is reserved or regulated, and therefore do not require practice rights. In advance of your 2023 renewals, CILEX will be giving you the opportunity to ensure your details are up-to-date, and this will include a short application/declaration.

In addition to this declaration, all CILEX Lawyers will be required to undertake the learning Ethics and Professional Responsibility in Context. This engaging and interactive content will enable you to demonstrate you are a well-rounded professional equipped not only with technical legal knowledge, but a broader understanding of the ethical and regulatory issues that will confront you as a professional, and the organisations that you work for. You can use this to evidence your professional development and it can be used to meet some of your annual CPD requirements.

I’m a CILEX Advocate already. Do I need additional rights?

As an Advocate, although you are authorised to undertake the reserved legal activity of a right of audience (either in civil, criminal or family), the authorisation for this requires you to be working in employment, and under the supervision of an authorised person. Therefore, to be eligible to practise independently and with equivalence to a solicitor doing the same role, you will need to obtain the related litigation practice rights for your area, and make the declaration to do so, as above.

If I am quite happy working in a firm under supervision of a solicitor and do not want to get practice rights, are you saying I cannot call myself a lawyer?

No. As a Chartered Legal Executive, you are a lawyer, and you can refer to yourself as a lawyer. However, you cannot use the title CILEX Lawyer, which is only given to those who are authorised to practise independently without supervision alongside solicitors.

What is the new top-up route to obtaining practice rights?

This is a new assessment-based route to obtaining practice rights that provides an alternative to completing a portfolio. The new route applies to the following reserved or regulated areas of work:

• Reserved instrument (conveyancing) activities;
• Probate activities;
• Litigation and advocacy for civil, criminal or family proceedings; or
• Immigration and asylum activities.

Whether training is required before taking the assessment will depend on the level and nature of experience held in the relevant specialist practice area.

Who is the new route to practice rights open to?

The top-up, assessment-based route is only open to Fellows with at least five years’ qualifying employment experience.

If that experience includes two years’ experience in the area in which the Fellow is seeking rights, then only an assessment is required. For Fellows who do not have this, CILEx Regulation (CRL) requires that a training course with the University of Law is undertaken before completing the assessment. 

When does this new route open? 

This new route is now open, and you can find further information and a timetable for booking on CRL’s website here. 

What does the assessment route look like?

Fellows are required to register with the University of Law to complete an assessment against the additional practice rights standards of competence, which will comprise of a multiple-choice assessment and a two-part skills assessment. It will take three and a half hours to complete.

What does the training and assessment route look like?

For those who CRL requires to complete the training element, you will undertake a 12- or 24-week online course with the University of Law prior to registering for the assessment. The 12-week course will require full-time study or you can select the 24-week option and study on a part-time basis.

Once the training is complete, you will undertake the University of Law assessment to demonstrate that you meet the additional practice rights competency standards.

What is involved in the assessment?

The assessment is made up of two components:

• A multiple-choice examination to assess knowledge (a 90-minute closed-book assessment taken online comprising 45 questions); and
• A skills component to assess competence. This has two elements, both of which need to be completed within two hours. First, an oral interviewing skills element, conducted via a video conferencing tool, and secondly a written submission, based on the first element.

How is the training delivered?

The training is delivered online through the University of Law’s virtual learning platform. It is not live, so learning can be flexible around an individual’s hours of work.

There is tutor support from the University of Law and a blend of learning activities. The training is divided into units, with each unit focusing on the performance of activities and practical tasks, supported by regular feedback. This learning is supplemented by a programme of recorded lectures and occasional group sessions.

How much will it cost to undertake the assessment only route?

The assessment route costs £499. In addition to this, CRL requires a DBS check, which it will obtain via uCheck, with a cost of less than £35.

How much will it cost to undertake the learning and assessment route?

The training and assessment option will cost £1,999. In addition to this, CRL requires a DBS check, which it will obtain via uCheck, with a cost of less than £35.

What if I do not want to undertake the learning and assessment route?

CRL continues to operate the original portfolio-based route to practice rights authorisation, which you can read about here.

Fellows who choose not to obtain independent practice rights will remain Chartered Legal Executives and continue to require the supervision of a solicitor to undertake reserved activities.

I am not yet a Fellow, but would like to obtain practice rights using the new route. Can I?

This route is only open to existing Fellows. If you wish to obtain practice rights in conveyancing or probate, you can apply for these without being a Fellow through the portfolio route, which you can read about here. If you wish to obtain practice rights in civil litigation, family litigation, criminal litigation or immigration, then it is a requirement that you are a Fellow.

I am a qualified Chartered Legal Executive and have spent many years working in civil litigation. Six months ago, I changed specialism and am now working in wills and probate and would like to get practice rights in probate. I do not have the time to undertake the training. What are my options?

The training course element of the new route is specifically designed for Fellows in your position who lack the required two years’ experience in the specified area of practice. However, if the training course is not a suitable option for you, the alternative is to work for another 18 months in wills and probate, opening up the option of either the assessment-only route or completion of the portfolio option, which you can read about here. It is a matter of personal preference which is most suitable route for you.