Qualifying Employment

To become a Fellow of CILEx you must complete at least 3 years qualifying employment and meet the work based learning outcomes. More information on these can be found here. To be in qualifying employment you must be undertaking duties that are wholly of a legal nature for at least 20 hours each week. During your qualifying employment you must be employed either:

(a) by an authorised person in private practice

(b) By an organisation where the employment is subject to the supervision by an authorised person employed in duties of a legal nature by that organisation

An authorised person is a person as defined by section 18 of the Legal Services Act 2007.

You can start your qualifying employment before, during or after your studies. Most CILEx students are either working in a legal environment at the time that they start their studies, or obtain employment as a trainee Legal Executive during their period of studying. This may count towards CILEx's qualifying employment requirements.

The final year of the three year period of qualifying employment cannot be gained until you have achieved your academic qualification, i.e. when you become a Graduate member of CILEx. This means up to 2 of the 3 years qualifying employment may be served concurrently with your studying. The 2 years' qualifying employment immediately preceding your application for Fellowship must be consecutive

Once you have completed your qualifying employment you will then be able to apply to become a Fellow of CILEx and use the designation FCILEx.

The application process for Fellowship is in 2 stages:

• Demonstration of the requisite period of qualifying employment
• Assessment of competence through completion of a work based learning logbook and portfolio of evidence

You are advised to register with the Membership department when embarking on work based learning. At the point of registration, you will be asked to complete a qualifying employment form. Full details can be found here.