Mazur Court of Appeal hearing 23 February 2026

18 February 2026

On Monday 23 February, the Court of Appeal will hear CILEX’s (the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) appeal against the Mazur judgment, handed down in September last year.

The hearing will begin at 2pm in Court 73 of the Court of Appeal. The court will not sit on Tuesday 24 February, sitting again on Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 February. The hearing will also be live streamed on the Court of Appeal’s YouTube channel.

Commenting ahead of the hearing, CILEX chief executive Jennifer Coupland said:

“Since the judgment in Mazur was handed down last year, CILEX has had serious concerns about its impact on the legal sector.

“The consequences for many of our members have been profound but the shock waves go far beyond CILEX, affecting the operation of law firms, local government and law centres.

“Further, given CILEX members are more likely to come from groups traditionally underrepresented in the legal profession, the judgment threatens diversity in the law as well as restricting competition and access to justice.

“This hearing will be the first time that CILEX’s arguments relating to the conduct of litigation will be heard, alongside interventions from across the profession, including the Law Centres Network and Association of Personal Injury Lawyers. No matter what the outcome, this is a vital opportunity for those arguments to be aired and properly considered by the courts.

“We are hoping for a swift decision that provides certainty and clarity for both our members and the wider profession and would like to thank our legal team, who are acting in pro bono in this important case.”

CILEX is being represented pro bono by: Nick Bacon KC, head of 4 New Square, Helen Evans KC, Teen Jui Chow and Faye Metcalfe of 4 New Square, Iain Miller, a partner, and Stephen Nelson and Phoebe Alexander, senior associates, at City law firm Kingsley Napley and Greg Cox, managing partner of Simpson Millar.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Louise Eckersley, Black Letter Communications on 0203 567 1208 or email at [email protected]

Kerry Jack, Black Letter Communications on 07525 756 599 or email at [email protected]

Notes to editors:

CILEX (The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) is one of the three main professional bodies covering the legal profession in England and Wales. The approximately 18,000-strong membership is made up of CILEX Lawyers, Chartered Legal Executives, paralegals and other legal professionals.

CILEX pioneered the non-university route into law and recently launched the CILEX Professional Qualification (CPQ), a new approach to on-the-job training that marries legal knowledge with the practical skills, behaviours and commercial awareness needed by lawyers in the 2020s.

The CPQ is a progressive qualification framework that creates a workforce of specialist legal professionals, providing a career ladder from Paralegal through to Advanced Paralegal and ultimately full qualification as a CILEX Lawyer. CILEX Lawyers can become partners in law firms, coroners, judges or advocates in open court.

CILEX members come from more diverse backgrounds than other parts of the legal profession:

76% of its lawyers are women
16% are from ethnic minority backgrounds
- 8% are Asian or Asian British
- 5% are Black or Black British
- 3% are from a mixed ethnic background
77% attended state schools
63% come from families where neither parent attended university
Only 3% of its members have a parent who is a lawyer.

CILEX members are regulated through an independent body, CILEx Regulation. It is the only regulator covering paralegals.