CILEX responds to Mazur Court of Appeal judgment

31 March 2026

Today the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in CILEX & Ors v Mazur & Ors.

Following the ruling, CILEX (the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) chief executive Jennifer Coupland said:

“This is the most consequential judgment for legal services in recent history: It is a victory for CILEX members but also for access to justice, the interests of consumers and the encouragement of a thriving, diverse and competitive legal sector.

CILEX is delighted that this common-sense judgment recognises our solutions, bringing much needed clarity to the conduct of litigation, and the role of authorised and unauthorised professionals. It means the profession can now operate effectively, maintaining high standards and consumer confidence whilst opening up legal services to alternative business models and providers.

CILEX professionals play a critical role in the justice system; they are well qualified, highly skilled, hugely experienced and, given they are more likely to come from groups traditionally underrepresented in the legal profession, bring different perspectives to their work.

Many have been profoundly impacted by the uncertainty created by the Mazur judgment and we hope that they are now able to move forward with their careers.

We also hope that this judgment offers a moment of reset for legal services where we can work collaboratively with the rest of the sector to ensure a consistent and clear response to the judgment that supports ordinary people seeking justice.

CILEX joins the voices of others in the sector, including the Legal Services Consumer Panel, in calling out the regulatory failure the Mazur judgment and its consequences represent. We will now look to lobby the government to address some of the regulatory shortcomings of the Legal Services Act. In the meantime, we await updated guidance from our regulator, CILEx Regulation.

Finally, CILEX is grateful for the support of our outstanding legal team – Nick Bacon KC, Helen Evans KC, Teen Jui Chow and Faye Metcalfe of 4 New Square, Iain Miller, Stephen Nelson and Phoebe Alexander at Kingsley Napley and Greg Cox of Simpson Millar. All have acted pro bono in this important case.”

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

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

Sue Carr, 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.