The New Breed of Lawyer: The Rise of the Legal Executive
The traditional routes to becoming a lawyer are fraught with financial risk and rejection can be found around every corner. Studying hard for up to five years without a firm offer of a training contract from a reputable law firm might seem overly risky for the majority of students struggling to afford their education. In times of uncertain economic growth and stability, can only the most privileged and affluent of students afford to become solicitors and barristers?
The answer is unclear, but there can be little doubt that the top law firms are highly selective when choosing new recruits. The question is whether students can afford to put themselves forward as candidates when tuition fees are so high and the economy so fragile. The legal profession in England and Wales needed something different, something distinct from the traditional careers of solicitors and barristers. But what it needed was already there.
Legal Executives
In early 2012, the London College of Law placed an advert in the Evening Standard that read: “Amazingly Low Course Fees available!! No need to go to Uni”. The advertisement referred to a form of training provided by the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx).
Legal executives are not exactly a new phenomenon, of course. In almost every major town from Newmarket to Nantwich, solicitors are working alongside legal executives in private law firms, but the progression of the legal executive as a career option has been bolstered in recent years.
Advantages
Established in 1892, CILEx was known as the Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX) in 1963 before changing its name in January 2012 when it received a royal charter. According to CILEx, 81.5 per cent of its members have parents who studied at university. Only 2 per cent of members have a lawyer for a parent. Clearly, CILEx operates in different circles from the magic-circle law firms, which have attracted criticism in the past for using the old boys’ network of recruitment.
Members of CILEx have enjoyed more successful careers as legal executives in recent years following the coming into force of the Legal Services Act 2007, which allowed legal executives to be made partners in law firms. Though in practical terms this did little to bring legal executives on a par with solicitors, it did theoretically remove the glass ceiling on salaries. Indeed, CILEx advises that legal executives can enjoy starting salaries of between £15,000 and £28,000, rising to £55,000 or more with experience. Many solicitors in the UK would be content with these levels of income.
Combining their chartered status with relatively good earning potential, legal executives hold at least one advantage over solicitors and barristers: training is cheaper and quicker. CILEx is available to any person with GCSEs, A-Levels or a degree. Qualification costs approximately £7,000, which compares favourably to the £20,000-£40,000 on average that law students rack up en route to becoming a lawyer. Though high-earning solicitors are able to repay their undergraduate debts without much trouble, CILEx members are afforded greater financial security in the short term.
Disadvantages
There is really little difference between solicitors and legal executives now that the restriction on becoming a partner has been lifted. However, legal executives may be disadvantaged in practice by not having qualified through the traditional channels in much the same way as solicitors from new universities are not usually given the same opportunities as those from the red-brick institutions. Nevertheless, the rise of the legal executive cannot be discounted – and perhaps in time the profession will become truly indistinguishable from that of a solicitor or barrister.
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This guest post has been written by Denver on behalf of Hibberts, Nantwich solicitors who help people receive the claims they deserve – but they also understand the implications of any changes or issues which may have a universal impact on the future or continued interest of the legal profession. Keep updated for more developments from our professional employment law solicitors
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Charon’s addition….
As this article was written, the rise of Legal Executives has already continued. What with the award of their Royal Charter, ‘Fellows’ of The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives are now referred to as ‘Chartered Legal Executives’.
My advice to a student who want to be a lawyer, even a barrister, but doesn’t come from a privileged background or have connections is become a legal exec in the provinces and work your way up.
1) Get outstanding A-levels, do an extra A-level in law in your spare time if necessary
2) take a gap year doing something interesting so you don’t regret having never had the university or gap year experience when you’re getting burnt out by working and studying in 3 years time;
3) get a job as a legal exec in the provinces in a small firm who will value your commitment, get paid to study on the job,
4) do the LPC after, say, 7 years (hopefully sponsored by your employer)
5) cross-qualify as a solicitor without the need for a training contract and then become a solicitor advocate if you want to do court appearances.
After 3-4 years of being a legal exec you will be on a decent salary and earning bonuses. After eight years you should be on fairly good money and with a lot of experience and a good client base. A good start to being a solicitor / solicitor advocate. Will probably have earned at least £0.25M in that decade. Oh, and no student debt.
Contrast it to a law student after eight years: three years of law – £30k debt
LPC or BVC – another £20k debt
2 years on lowish wages trying to find a training contract or pupillage
if (and a big IF) all goes well, one year pupillage / 2 year training contract
a year or so starting out as a junior lawyer
The law student after those years will either be working in a completely unrelated field, or have perhaps one year of practice under their belt. Either way, still trying to pay down significant student loans.
We talk about it being the highly motivated who succeed as lawyers. My advice to highly motivated 17 and 18 year olds: become a legal exec.
Becoming a Barrister via the CILEx route is pretty tricky as the Bar still requires all applicants to have a degree (even if not a law degree).
However, don’t forget that CILEx Lawyers can obtain Advocacy Rights a good deal of court work can be done without the need to cross-qualify (though Solicitor Advocates have greater rights of audience than CILEx Advocates).
As we can also become partners and apply for Judicial appointment, in the vast majority of cases, the only remaining reason to cross-qualify is because an existing employer pays CILEx folk less or will not contemplate making them partners.
Reversing Groucho Marx, does anyone really want to be member of a prejudiced ‘club’ where your personal worth counts for less than your qualification?
I don’t.
However, legal executives may be disadvantaged in practice by not having qualified through the traditional channels in much the same way as solicitors from new universities are not usually given the same opportunities as those from the red-brick institutions. Nevertheless, the rise of the legal executive cannot be discounted …
Sadly, they can and will be. Red brick goes a long way in terms of the types of positions the impecunious prodigy might have in mind.