What can my job title be?
Your job title is ultimately at the discretion of your employer.
There are only two requirements from a CILEx and CILEx Regulation
perspective, which are that:
- you do not use the protected title of "Chartered Legal
Executive" unless you are a fully qualified and practising
Fellow of CILEx, and
- you are not misleading to the public or people you deal
with.
Under Principle 3 of the code of conduct, outcome 3.5 states that you must not hold yourself out
as having a qualification or professional status that you do not
possess.
The discretion this provides to employers is important, but
CILEx would not recommend the following job titles:
Counsel
Whilst the term counsel is not protected by law, we would advise
members against using it as it could be misleading to the public.
In the UK, 'counsel' is very much synonymous with barrister. CILEx
Regulation or the Bar Standards Board may take action against a
member calling themselves counsel. The term counsel is more likely
to be used in-house by international firms, which tend to equate
the term with lawyer as opposed to barrister.
Lawyer
Only fully qualified members (a Fellow or person authorised for
practice rights) is a lawyer, and may call themselves as
such. CILEx Regulation may take action against a member
who is not a Fellow or authorised person but who refers to
themselves as a lawyer.
Legal Executive
CILEx discourages the use of the title Legal Executive as it
could mislead the public or other people you may be dealing with.
It was the title previously used by fully qualified Fellows.
Fellows should use the term 'Chartered Legal Executive', which is a
protected title.
The term Legal Executive is not protected by law. As a result,
we have see non-members of CILEx use the term. This presents a
problem in terms of potentially misleading the public, but
unfortunately CILEx Regulation has no remit over
non-members, and therefore cannot take any action. We have
some experience of law firms calling employees Legal
Executives when they are not. If a consumer has been mislead by
this, and is under the impression they were receiving advice from a
qualified lawyer, they can address their complaint initially to the
firm. If the complaint is not resolved to their satisfaction, the
complaint can be escalated to the Solicitors Regulation
Authority (SRA) or the Legal Ombudsman.
Solicitor
It is a criminal offence to hold yourself out as a solicitor
when you are not. The SRA could take action against any individual
for doing so. CILEx Regulation is also likely to take action
against a member calling themselves a solicitor when they are
not.
Trainee Chartered Legal Executive
CILEx discourages its members from using the title Trainee
Chartered Legal Executive. This title does not specify the stage of
training you have achieved. there is potentially a significant
difference in training between a newly enrolled student member and
a graduate member who has finished their studies and almost
completed their qualifying employment.
Members can use the appropriate designatory letters in their job
titles, or on websites or firm literature. For example ACILEx for
Associate members, GCILEx for Graduate members, and FCILEx for
Fellows. You can also use your membership grade, for example
stating that you are an Associate member of the Chartered Institute
of Legal Executives. CILEx ask that if you do use this title you should specify your grade of membership along with your designatory letters, if applicable.
There are some commonly used job titles for non-Fellow members.
This list below is not a recommendation of job titles, as it will
depend on your employer, your role, and even your level of
membership or experience. The list is also not exhaustive.
- Litigation Executive
- Legal Advisor
- Senior Legal Advisor
- Legal Assistant
- Probate Executive
- Conveyancing Executive
- Paralegal
If your question is not answered, you can contact us by
e-mailing practiceadvice@cilex.org.uk and
we will endeavour to contact you within three working days.