A revolution in the practice of law

CILEX chair, Professor Chris Bones, explains why the CPQ is just the start of a push for change

So much has changed since I wrote my last Journal column. The defeat of Donald Trump, whilst losing us a constant generator of conversation, is a positive for those of us who believe that political discourse should be based on facts and a respect for diverse views and opinions.

Meanwhile, here in the UK, the success to date of the vaccine programme is a positive for all who are longing to see friends and family and hold them in our arms once again.

At CILEX, we have fired the first rounds in what we intend to be a revolution in the practice of law and in legal education and training, enabling us to set the framework for the future.

The launch of the CPQ is transformational. For the first time, someone without a formal higher education can qualify to practise as a lawyer through one single process. At the same time, we are offering tens of thousands of paralegals a professional standing and a structure for career development and, for those with a law degree, a route into being a fully qualified lawyer.

Pushing for reform

CPQ is just the start of a series of initiatives and actions that we are taking this year to push forward reform in legal services. For too long we have sat and waited for others; we have reacted but haven’t taken a lead.

Over the last 12 months, we have been working hard to shift the quality of our relationships with government, regulators, banks and building societies, agencies, educators and fellow professional bodies. The impact of these efforts is already starting to show progress:

• We are now in constructive talks with government on powers of attorney, qualification to become a Crown prosecutor, judicial appointments and a series of other issues that continue to act as barriers to equality of standing;
• We are in active conversations with all three of the remaining major lenders who still do not encourage applications to lender panels from firms regulated by CILEX Regulation;
• We are working to extend our own judicial appointments programme significantly in partnership with the Judicial Office; and
• We are working with the Law Society to publish a joint public statement of mutual recognition of each other’s qualifications and to issue a questionnaire on diversity and inclusion to both bodies’ membership to start to build evidence through which we want to change employment practices in law firms.

Whilst this progress is welcome, we are going to need to make considerable investment in research and campaigning to change behaviour, mindsets and in some cases legislation that has been around for decades, if not longer. Importantly, to secure votes in favour of legislative change, we are going to have to influence 656 MPs and around 400 active voting members of the House of Lords, as well as, where appropriate, 60 Welsh Assembly members and 129 members of the Scottish parliament, if we are to achieve our goals.

This is us investing in your future as legal professionals of equal standing to solicitors and barristers

This is a five-year programme at least, which may well take longer if we have to wait for legislative time. As such we have decided to allocate a significant budget to invest in building the case for change, reporting progress and in holding governments, regulators, agencies, educators, lenders, professional bodies and law firms to account.

Change will only come about if we allocate the time, resources and energy needed. To achieve the membership’s goal of genuine equality, we will need to invest our funds consistently over some years.

This is us investing in your future as legal professionals of equal standing to solicitors and barristers. You’ll have an annual report from us on progress, regular updates and plenty of opportunities to get involved. One date for your diary is 27 May, when we introduce our Campaign for Change – we will want as many of you as possible to support it on social media and by writing to your MPs and local newspapers.

Practice rights

In the meantime, if you are a Chartered Legal Executive/Fellow, there is one thing you can do for yourself and the professional standing of every CILEX member: get your practice rights.

Out of some 8000 Chartered Legal Executives (CLEs), only about 1% hold these practice rights today. That means that only 1% of our members hold genuine equivalence with solicitors. Unless this changes, the argument we can make to government and others to change practices, policies, regulations and laws is far less compelling.

It also means that, as loopholes are closed in the routes to practice offered through working at a firm regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or through local government rights, fewer of our CLEs can execute legal services where an authorised person is required. This is not just a matter of ‘a piece of paper’ – it is a matter of professional standing.

We are committed to investing in your future as legal professionals of equal standing to solicitors and barristers. The designation of CILEX Lawyer demonstrates to both clients and peers alike your ability to practise independently.

Students qualifying through CPQ will automatically obtain the necessary practice rights but we want to encourage all CLEs to call themselves CILEX Lawyers.

In the next few weeks, subject to regulatory approval, we will be announcing another radical change that will enable every CLE to gain practice rights as part of their annual CPD requirement and at a cost that will be subsidised to ensure funds are not a barrier for those whose employers do not fund their CPD.

If you are a CLE without practice rights, don’t let yourself fall behind. Don’t reduce the impact of what we can achieve for our profession: sign up for the programme as soon as you see the announcements.

This will be an exciting year for CILEX and its members – let’s see what we can achieve together.