What is a Chartered Legal Executive?
A Chartered Legal Executive is an authorised lawyer.
What can a Chartered Legal Executive do?
Chartered Legal Executives often specialise in a particular area of law. They frequently work alongside solicitors or CILEx Practitioners. They can carry out reserved legal work, under the supervision of an authorised person such as a solicitor or CILEx Practitioner.
The most common areas of law that Chartered Legal Executives specialise in are:
- Conveyancing – legal work needed to buy or sell property
- Criminal law – defending, or taking a court case against, a person accused of a crime
- Company and business law – laws relating to businesses, such as tax or employment
- Litigation – going to court to sort out disputes
- Personal injury – for example, accident claims
- Family law – divorce, and sorting issues about money, property and children
- Probate – wills, trusts, inheritance tax and the administration of estates
Oath administration
For some official documents, it is a requirement that a person declares the document is true and signs it before a lawyer. This process is known as oath administration and Chartered Legal Executives have the practice right, Commissioner for Oaths, and can carry out this work.
Law firms
Some Chartered Legal Executives run their own law firm doing legal work that is not reserved legal work. An example of non-reserved legal work is will writing, some employment law matters and general legal advice.
