The Board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) will this week decide whether to proceed with proposals for the SRA to regulate authorised and non-authorised members of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX), which has been met with questions from stakeholders – including the Law Society of England and Wales.
The consensus among opponents is that integrating CILEX regulation into the SRA at this time would confound consumers and underscore their ability to make informed legal choices, particularly for complicated legal issues. Many state that CILEX members should continue to be regulated under the current bespoke arrangements with CRL.
Ian Jeffrey of the Law Society, who are a stakeholder in CILEX, has questioned whether the SRA should be focusing their resources on other priorities and that ‘now is not the time for the SRA to’ widen regulatory scope. Last month the Law society urged the regulatory body to withdraw regulation proposals.
The SRA claimed that the costs of regulating authorised CILEX lawyers would be fully recovered from the practising certificate fees of CILEX members, and that there would be no cross subsidy between solicitors and CILEX lawyers despite current concerns from the stakeholders regarding the SRA’s resources.
Law Society of England and Wales chief executive officer Ian Jeffery said: “We await the SRA Board’s decision in expectation that it listens to the widespread opposition to the proposals from the Law Society, CILEx Regulation Limited (CRL), CILEX members and other stakeholders and opts not to proceed with these proposals.
“The SRA must seriously consider whether the time, resources and management focus required to integrate CILEX regulation into the SRA is wise, given the other priorities the SRA faces in light of the collapses of Axiom Ince, Metamorph, Kingly and the SSB Group.
“Now is not the right time for the SRA to seek to widen its regulatory scope or take on additional responsibilities.
“The SRA has failed to make the case for any positive consumer impacts – as highlighted by the Legal Services Consumer Panel’s consultation response – which underscored the lack of evidence and information from both CILEX and the SRA. This point was also made by the Justice Select Committee who concluded they were sceptical of the argument that re-delegation would represent a simplification that would help consumers.
“Any change would negatively impact on consumers’ ability to clearly understand the legal choices available to them and to choose the right legal provider, especially where their legal needs are complex.
“In common with CILEX members, we remain of the view that the regulation of CILEX members is best managed under the current bespoke arrangements with CRL.”
Last year the SRA announced they were consulting on potential changes to its regulatory arrangements to include authorised members of CILEX. This followed on from a CILEX consultation launched earlier in 2023 on proposals to re-delegate the regulation of its members to the SRA.
SRA said that CILEX approached them about this potential change in 2022. Their Board agreed that taking on the regulation of authorised CILEX members ‘has potential to deliver tangible benefits to consumers of legal services and the wider public.’
The regulatory body said that the proposed change would simplify the complex regulatory landscape, making it easier for consumers to navigate. They also claimed it would also bring more consistent levels of protection and information, stating: ‘For example, firms owned and managed by CILEX members will have the same level of indemnity insurance as solicitors’ practices, and will publish the same range of information about their costs and services’
The consultation set out its proposed approach to the regulation of authorised CILEX members. This included maintaining distinct identities for authorised CILEX lawyers and solicitors. To support this, a separate Code of Conduct for CILEX lawyers – which the SRA said was aligned with the standards and regulations for solicitors but mindful of differences in role and context – would be introduced.
The announcement also said that distinct CILEX route to authorisation would also be retained, while the SRA would ‘also explain how we would handle investigations and enforcement activity’.
Paul Philip, SRA Chief Executive, said at the time: ‘Bringing together the regulation of solicitors and authorised CILEX lawyers has obvious benefits in terms of simplification and consistency of regulatory processes and procedures and more consistent protection to the public. We believe the changes outlined in our consultation will enable this to happen, while also allowing for a smooth transfer of responsibilities.’
