CILEX closes consultation into reform agenda
CILEX has closed its three-month consultation into its reform agenda. The consultation – Enhancing Consumer Trust & Confidence – outlined plans to update CILEX’s governance, to introduce clearer professional titles that promote CILEX Lawyers as chartered specialists and to recognise CILEX Paralegals as a distinct regulated profession.
It also explained why CILEX, in its capacity as both a public interest body and approved regulator, is considering delegating regulation of CILEX members to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Many thanks to all those members who took the time to respond and to attend one of the 14 online and in-person events, which saw CILEX CEO Linda Ford and members of the executive team on hand to answer questions and to explain how these changes aim to drive positive change for both consumers and providers of legal services.
Feedback from your responses will allow the Institute to understand the impact of the changes on the range of CILEX members as well as the wider legal sector.
The CILEX Board is now reviewing the responses and will consider the outcome at its meeting on 29 November.
CILEX publishes 2022 annual report
CILEX has published its annual report covering 2022, a year in which the organisation made significant progress against its strategic goals and invested heavily in its people, systems and infrastructure. This investment reflected CILEX’s continued operation as a primarily remote workforce, and the work CILEX is doing to ensure the legal market understands and engages with the new CPQ qualifications, CILEX’s apprenticeship routes and its specialist paralegal products.
To read more about the work of CILEX’s customer services, membership and policy teams as well as CILEX Law School and the CILEX Foundation, with detail on CILEX’s membership and finances, you can find the full report here.
Member news
Emma Bilsborrow, Chartered Legal Executive at Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Essex firm, Adams Harrison was promoted to partner in July. With 14 years post-qualification experience in family and matrimonial law, Ms Bilsborrow was also made head of the firm’s family department.
In August, Coventry and Warwickshire firm Alsters Kelley Solicitors appointed Chartered Legal Executive Rachael Flanagan as head of medical negligence and personal injury. Ms Flanagan qualified with CILEX in 2009 and has more than 20 years experience representing claimants in both medical negligence and personal injury claims. She is a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and an accredited senior litigator.
Ms Flanagan said she was “looking forward to the challenge” and that the new position was “a great opportunity given there is so much potential for me to develop and expand the team and to make a real difference”.
August also saw Natalie Neil, who qualified as a Chartered Legal Executive two years ago, promoted to an associate at Dorset firm Frettens Solicitors. Ms Neil has been at the firm for nearly 20 years and specialises in conveyancing.
In October, experienced Chartered Legal Executive Paul Thomson joined South West firm The Family Law Company’s children team. Mr Thomson has previously worked for Torbay children services and has represented parents within special Children Act care proceedings.