SRA plan criticised amid tug of war to regulate legal executives

The tug of war to oversee legal executives and paralegals took another twist with their current regulator making its latest pitch to maintain the status quo.

Representative body CILEX is consulting on whether legal executives should switch from being regulated by CILEx Regulation (CRL) to coming under the umbrella of the SRA.

The solicitors’ regulator has in principle backed the idea, talking up the idea of a simpler regulatory landscape.

But CRL is not going to relinquish its role without a fight. The organisation today highlighted what it call a ‘lack of public information’ from the SRA and CILEX about what the change would mean in practice.

CRL said the proposals give no indication of how the public interest would be served, the potential benefit to consumers or what the financial implications would be. There are also questions raised about whether CILEX has the necessary powers to make these changes unilaterally.

Jonathan Rees, chair of CRL, said there remain “gaps and uncertainties” about oversight of the 7,000 authorised CILEX fellows and 9,500 paralegals current under its scope.

Rees said:

“Our consultation before the summer showed that two out three CILEX professionals wanted to stay regulated by CRL and that CILEX members do not see regulatory change as a priority, and have a strong preference to continue with a focused, specialist regulator, rather than be subsumed into a much larger regulatory body.

“We will continue to meet CILEX and the SRA to try and secure answers to these many questions and encourage CILEX members, including those who are dual-qualified, to do the same.

“The CRL board is committed to continue engaging positively with CILEX to understand their future aspirations and how CRL can continue as the regulatory body.”

The SRA has suggested that bringing legal executives on board would make the regulatory system easier for consumers to navigate and instil more consistent levels of protection and information.

Firms owned by CILEX members, it is proposed, would have the same level of indemnity insurance as solicitors’ practices, and will publish the same range of information about their costs and services.

But the Law Society has said the proposal risks causing confusion for consumers choosing a legal adviser.

Kindly shared by The Law Society Gazette