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| File:Chartered Institute of Legal Executives Logo.png | |
| Formation | 1892 (1892)[1] |
|---|---|
| Type | Professional body |
| Legal status | Royal Charter (since 2012) |
| Headquarters | Bedford, United Kingdom |
Region served | England and Wales |
Membership | 22,000 |
Official language | English |
President | Susan Silver (2011-2012) |
| Website | http://www.ilex.org.uk |
The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) is the professional body for Chartered Legal ExecutivesinEngland and Wales and an examination board providing qualifications for Chartered Legal Executives, paralegals and legal secretaries.
The Institute of Legal Executives was established in 1963 with the help of the Law Society of England and Wales to provide a more formal process for training so-called "solicitors' clerks". Charles Dickens was a solicitor's clerk (he drew on his experience for characters in his novels) and a solicitor's managing clerk is featured in Galsworthy's Justice).
Traditionally, solicitors' clerks were not formally trained in law, but through experience had built up a working knowledge of specific aspects and could carry out legal paperwork as a fee earner. The creation of the Institute of Legal Executives meant that solicitors' clerks became qualified "legal executives" (holding a practising certificate and having a similar role to solicitors in practicing law). Legal Executive Lawyers gained rights that allow them to become partners in law firms, advocates with rights of audience in Court and also judges.
On 13 October 2011 the Institute of Legal Executives (as a company limited by guarantee) sought Royal Charter status from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II via the Privy Council. A Royal Charter was granted in 2012 and the Institute of Legal Executives became the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives "CILEx".[2]
CILEx set out to create a formal process for training legal support staff that would be recognised and respected in the legal community. With growing recognition The institute's purpose has evolved: it now has its own front line regulator, ILEX Professional Standards (IPS) and provides a vocational career route from trainee to professional lawyer.
The profile of the institute's membership is also changing. Some of the most able legal executives are now law firm partners and legal executives can also become Judges in England and Wales[3]. Law graduates may also take an alternative route to becoming a solicitor by using the institute's "graduate fast-track" scheme.
