LSB report response

27 July 2026

Responding to the Legal Services Board’s (LSB) regulatory review of advice and guidance provided to the profession on the conduct of litigation by approved regulators and regulatory bodies, published today, Jennifer Coupland, CEO of CILEX, said:

“CILEX has been fully transparent with the LSB during the review process and we accept the findings of today’s report.

The fallout from the Mazur judgment exposed longstanding regulatory confusion in a complex area of law. Arguments relating to the conduct of litigation, aired for the first time during the appeal process, demonstrated that while organisations across the sector were acting in good faith, they were working with a framework that lacked clarity and was not fit for purpose.

While CILEX has always done its best to communicate the latest regulatory guidance available, we know that we have not always got it right. Our members are entitled to clear, consistent and aligned guidance, and we are committed to improving how this is delivered for both our members and the wider profession.

The LSB’s findings show that there are lessons to be learned, particularly in relation to greater collaboration and alignment. As the Master of the Rolls observed during our appeal, regulators appeared to be operating ‘in their trenches’ and that needs to change. We are committed to strengthening our relationships with both CILEx Regulation and the SRA to improve coordination across the sector.

CILEX is, however, disappointed with some aspects of the LSB report: Firstly, there is insufficient acknowledgement of the LSB’s own failings with regard to the oversight of the regulation of litigation. There were multiple opportunities for the LSB to intervene or take action to provide the clarity that the sector clearly needed. Secondly, it is insensitive to the reality of the position following the High Court judgment in concluding that there was no evidence of detrimental impact, without properly acknowledging the human impact on the many lawyers and firms who experienced real negative consequences and significant stress. Finally, it is disappointing that this first substantive LSB output since the publication of Richard Lloyd’s ‘Independent Public Bodies Review of the LSB’ Report shows no substantially changed approach to the oversight of regulation going forward.

As set out in CILEX’s five-year strategy, published earlier this month, we will be actively engaging with both the profession and government to campaign for regulatory reform, including changes to the Legal Services Act.”

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.