The CRL Board held a meeting on 6 November primarily to discuss the ongoing implications of the Mazur judgment, and the support we are providing. We understand the huge distress and uncertainty caused to many of the regulated community by the judgment and welcomed the important developments since our last meeting.
In particular, we are pleased that the Legal Services Board approved our application for stand-alone litigation rights so quickly. This gives all those affected the opportunity to practise litigation independently.
Following the LSB approval we have created a dedicated landing page – Stand-alone Litigation Practice Rights on the CRL website for Standalone Litigation Rights. This sets out the different routes available for achieving practice rights. The three routes available are: portfolio, assessment only and training & assessment.
We noted that we had already received over 200 portfolio applications (including applications for Litigation & Advocacy practice rights), with the prospect of considerably more to follow. We reviewed the plans in place to deal with such a large number of applications in a short timescale: we have already reallocated resources within CRL, recruiting new assessors and streamlined processes. Recognising that the assessment only route may be the most suitable route to authorization for many, we continue to work closely with The University of Law (ULaw) to ensure they can increase their capacity and shorten the time between enrolling and completing the assessment. We are also in touch with firms identified by CILEX to understand their requirements and to signpost them to the most appropriate route and look at the possibility of firm specific training. The Board agreed to monitor the position closely and reallocate further resources if necessary.
We agreed on the importance of communicating clearly and openly with those affected. We continue to update our website with FAQs and would encourage people to use that as the quickest way to access information. I also reported on a useful meeting John Barwick, Patricia White and I had held with members of the CILEX Support Group representing some 1800 members, also on 6 November. We set out our plans for CLEs to access Practice Rights either through the portfolio route or through assessment only route as the quickest and most straightforward way forward. We agreed to consider carefully suggestions made as how this process could be further streamlined whilst acknowledging it is CRL’s primary role to uphold standards and ensure consumers can continue to have confidence in the practice rights that CRL grants.
Looking forward, we noted that we would be holding a webinar on Monday 10 November to set out our plans for 2026, introduce our new EDI Strategy and provide an opportunity to debate the way forward in the light of the Mazur judgment. Jonathan Levack will also be attending the CILEX Conference on Thursday 13 November. We will also continue our regular discussions with CILEX, the LSB and the largest firms affected. We will also respond by the end of November to the LSB regulatory review of advice and guidance provided to the profession on the conduct of litigation.
Our next full Board meeting is on 9 December 2025. As always, if you want to know more, please look at our website, read our Board papers or get in touch.
