The Law Society of England and Wales has hit back at the introduction of a ‘CILEX Chartered Paralegal’ as part of amendments to CILEX’s Royal Charter which provides formal recognition for CILEX paralegals.
The Law Society has described the change as adding ‘another layer of confusion and complexity for consumers’ and fundamentally disagrees with the continuation of proposals which could see CILEX regulated professional come under the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s regulatory regime. Law Society President Richard Atkinson said:
“We have repeatedly opposed the regulation of Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX) members by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), due to the negative impact it will have on consumers, the wider public interest and the regulatory objectives. 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.”
Proposals for the SRA to regulate CILEX lawyers have been ongoing since 2022. In July last year, the SRA Board approved the redelegation of CILEX lawyers to its regulatory regime if CILEX wanted, saying there would be public interest benefits to it regulating all CILEX members; simplifying the complex regulatory landscape, making it easier for consumers to navigate and bringing more consistent standards and levels of protection.
But the Law Society dispute this.
“The change will cause consumer confusion, as it will be less clear which profession is which, and where different authorisations for practice areas apply. This is likely to be a particular problem for those with complex legal issues, or vulnerable consumers.
said Law Society CEO Ian Jeffery at the time adding neither CILEX’s own members nor the Law Society supported the redelegation. The proposals conflict with the core regulatory objective of protecting the interests of consumers and create a false equivalence between two distinct groups of professionals.
Now in light of the introduction of a CILEX Chartered Paralegal Atkinson says there is further confusion and complexity for consumers.
“Research we conducted in October 2023, supports the view that the term ‘lawyer’ is widely understood by consumers to refer to solicitors and barristers. It is therefore misleading to use it as a description of Legal Executives, who already have their own perfectly accurate and appropriate title.
“These changes will cause consumer confusion, as it will be less clear which profession is which, and where different authorisations for practice areas apply. This is likely to be a particular problem for those with complex legal issues or vulnerable consumers.”
“We also are concerned about the adverse effect that an additional responsibility would have on the SRA’s ability to meet its duty to regulate the solicitor profession 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 and the forthcoming report into its handling of the SSB Group debacle.”
