Paralegals will receive formal recognition under amendments to CILEX’s Royal Charter which bestows the title of CILEX Chartered Paralegal to professionals who can demonstrate they have worked in a legal role for over five years and show extensive legal knowledge and competence across key duties and behaviours. It provides career paralegals with a formal status recognising their achievements say the body.
The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX) has received the Privy Council’s agreement to amend its Royal Charter and introduce the title, representing the first recognition of paralegals as a distinct profession with their own progressive career pathway.
A new register of CILEX Paralegals and CILEX Chartered Paralegals has been launched in conjunction with the amendment to enable employers and the public to check the regulated status and qualification credentials of those holding a professional paralegal status with CILEX. Inclusion on the register is a mandatory requirement for these paralegal membership grades.
“This is a significant step to support people who have built careers in the legal profession in non-traditional ways. Paralegals are critical to the operation of many firms and recognition of their abilities and experience is long overdue.”
said CILEX President Yanthé Richardson, adding
“CILEX Chartered Paralegal status benefits them, employers, consumers and also the wider public interest. This new cadre of experienced and accountable professionals will do much for the provision of legal services, by raising standards and also injecting greater diversity, given the unique make-up of CILEX’s members.”
The title has will ‘promote public confidence in the delivery of legal services and justify commensurate charging rates’ say CILEX with the use of the word ‘Chartered’ deliberate as it is a title which holds ‘credibility’ with the public providing reassurance around the standards to which their work is held. It is hoped it will also distinguish between regulated and unregulated persons adds the body.
Those wishing apply for CILEX Chartered Paralegal status must complete a ‘detailed’ application outlining how they have met the requirements of the qualification, with a referee to validate the information, and then undergo an interview with a CILEX assessor to confirm that they have the required competence level.
For those with between two and five years of experience, the CILEX Paralegal status remains available (Level 3 – equivalent to A-Levels) while the new CILEX Chartered Paralegal is set at Level 5 on the Regulated Qualifications Framework – equivalent to a foundation degree. CILEX Lawyers are at Level 7 (postgraduate).
