Legal Executive Role and Regulation

• Legal Executives Role They are employed and earn fees for their firm. These could be either large or small firms. Like solicitor’s legal executives charge by the hour and make a direct contribution to firm’s profits. Firms are therefore responsible for the legal executive’s work. They tend to specialise in a particular area of law.
• Legal Executive Role (2)

  They undertake many roles which are similar to that of a solicitor.  This includes interviewing clients or witnesses, negotiating, completing relevant paperwork such as writing letters or drafting contracts and wills, conveyancing. 
• Legal Executive Role (3)

  They have some rights of audience such as making applications where the case is not defended in family and civil cases in the County Courts and Magistrates Court. 

  A course can be taken to gain wider rights of advocacy.  There are three types of certificate; a civil proceedings certificate, a criminal proceedings certificate and a family proceedings certificate.  This may mean the executive can then make bail applications or deal with cases in the family or youth courts. 
• Regulation

  Legal Executives are members of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx).It’s aim is to ‘Promote and secure professional standards of conduct amongst members and those who are registered with the Institute.’

  CILEx publishes a code of conduct and guides to good practice but regulation of members is done by the CILEx Regulation Board, which investigates complaints about legal executives
• Regulation (2)

  When an investigation is complete, a summary of the issues is prepared and the matter is put to the Professional Conduct Panel for consideration. The panel will decide if there has been misconduct. If there has been misconduct it may reprimand or warn a member. It will refer serious matters to the Disciplinary Tribunal.
• Regulation (3)

  The Disciplinary Tribunal has power to: exclude a person from membership of the Institute, reprimand or warn the member or order the legal executive to pay costs or a fine.

  In addition to the separate regulatory bodies there is an Office for Legal Complaints set up by the Legal Services Act 2007. This Office provides a free service to investigate how the individual regulatory body investigated a complaint and refers the case to the legal ombudsman