The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX) has shared its new five-year strategy, which places a strong emphasis on making the legal profession more accessible and campaigning for regulatory reform to break down barriers caused by “outdated rules and legislation”.
The 16,690-strong membership body is proudly diverse, with 77% of its members women, 16% from ethnic minority backgrounds, 77% with a state school education, and 63% from families where neither parent attended university.
The outcomes “are not incidental”, CILEX writes in its strategy, and reflect the accessibility and flexibility of the CILEX route to qualification.
Writing in the foreword to the report, CILEX CEO Jennifer Coupland (pictured) said the professional body is “challenging assumptions” about what it means to become a lawyer.
“Our professional qualifications have enabled a diverse cohort of aspiring lawyers to enter the profession”, she explained. “Our advocacy has helped secure opportunities and career pathways that were previously unavailable to many CILEX members, from becoming judges to being appointed crown prosecutors.”
The 2027-2031 strategy builds on this success, with its four strategic goals to create a proud professional community, drive change and elevate CILEX’s professional profile, provide excellent education for a growing profession and build firm foundations for a sustainable future.
“Recognition continues to be a challenge, whether because of outdated rules and legislation or because parts of the sector remain resistant to change,” Coupland said. “This was perhaps seen most clearly in the recent Mazur judgment, which called into question progress that many had assumed was already settled.”
After successfully challenging Mazur in the Court of Appeal earlier this year, CILEX says it will campaign for regulatory reform “to improve outcomes, increase effectiveness and strengthen CILEX’s position as the third branch of the legal profession”.
In a statement accompanying the release of the strategy, Coupland said: “At a time of rapid technological advancement, growing workforce pressures, court backlogs and increasing demand for legal services, the sector faces significant challenges and cannot afford to rely solely on traditional routes into law to meet those challenges.
“Modern legal services require multiple routes to qualification, flexibility and a workforce that is skilled, diverse and equipped for the realities of contemporary practice.
“CILEX has a vital role to play in shaping that future and is committed to pressing for the regulatory reform required to make that happen, opening up further opportunities for our members. If we are serious about wanting a diverse and inclusive legal profession, accessible to all, then CILEX lawyers are the test case for what is possible.
“We do not underestimate the challenges ahead, but we are ambitious for our members, confident in the value they bring, and determined to ensure that CILEX continues to champion opportunity, recognition and excellence across the legal profession.”
In 2021 the professional body launched the CILEX Professional Qualification (CPQ), which offers on-the-job training that includes legal knowledge with practical skills, behaviour and commercial awareness.
CILEX legal professionals can progress from paralegal to advanced paralegal and full qualification as a CILEX lawyer. Further progression includes becoming partners in law firms, coroners, judges or advocates in open court.
As part of its five-year plan, the professional body says it will produce a growth plan informed by analysis of the legal services sector’s current and future workforce needs, member aspirations and workforce opportunities, as well as exploring the potential for new CILEX offerings and opportunities for international growth.
It will also work with its members and CILEx Regulation, the independent regulatory body for CILEX members, to simplify membership grades, titles and qualifications as well as access to practice rights and certificates with the aim of promoting public understanding of its work.
