You will need to meet some core criteria to apply to become a CILEx Practitioner. Additional criteria apply to litigation and advocacy rights.

KNOWLEDGE
Level 6 assessment in the area of law and practice that you are applying for (or equivalent) or five portfolios from your work to evidence your understanding
EXPERIENCE
  • Five years working in the legal sector
  • At least two years in your specialist field
SKILLS
Demonstrate competence outlined in the competence framework for your specialist area

Chartered Legal Executive status for Litigation rights and Immigration rights

If you are looking to qualify as a CILEx Practitioner in either one of the litigation rights or in immigration, you must also be a Chartered Legal Executive. You can complete the applications at the same time if you would like, but we cannot admit you as a practitioner in one of these rights until you are a Chartered Legal Executive (for application process see here).

Advocacy requirements for Litigation rights

To practise litigation as a CILEx Practitioner you must also complete the advocacy requirements (for process see here).

Completing the core requirements

The competence framework for your specialist area sets out the outcomes that you must demonstrate in order to be admitted as a CILEx Practitioner. These are broken down into:

  1. Knowledge
  2. Experience
  3. Skills

Knowledge

This sets out the minimum academic requirements for becoming a CILEx Practitioner. You can demonstrate these by:

  • Successful completion of the relevant CILEx units
  • Holding an equivalent qualification
  • Five portfolios from your work to evidence your understanding

There is detailed guidance in the practitioner handbooks to help you provide us with enough information that we can assess your knowledge and application of the subject area.

Remember, if you are seeking authorisation in litigation or immigration, you must also meet the requirements to become a Chartered Legal Executive.

Experience

Everyone applying for admission as a CILEx Practitioner has to complete three case outlines (explanations of cases they have worked on) to demonstrate their experience is the subject.

You must also outline your general experience of working in legal practice for at least five years and the nature of your experience in the two years preceding your application (which must be in the area of practice for which you are seeking authorisation).

Skills

The skills section of the application process further divides into two parts:

  1. Client Care and Legal Research
  2. Demonstrating your competence in your specialist area of practice

Client Care and Legal Research

You can provide evidence of these skills in the following ways:

  • CILEx Level 6 units in Client Care and Legal Research
  • Holding a qualifying law degree* and an LPC or BPTC
  • Holding an equivalent qualification that can be mapped to the skills outcomes
  • Completing log sheets and portfolio which demonstrate meeting the outcomes set out in the competence framework

Competence in your specialist area of practice

To meet this requirement, you must complete either:

  • A course of study which satisfies the competencies, or
  • Provide a logbook and portfolio which demonstrates meeting the outcomes in the competence framework

You must also provide details of two referees who have experience of your work and who can provide CILEx Regulation with assurance of your competence.

*A qualifying law degree or QLD is one defined as such by the SRA/BSB

1

Am I ready?

Have I been working in the legal sector for five years?

Not yet ready
2

Do I have two years' experience in my specialist area?

Not yet ready
3

Can I demonstrate the required knowledge of law and legal practice?

Not yet ready
4

Do I have client care and legal research skills?

Not yet ready
5

Have I completed my portfolio?

Not yet ready
6

Am I applying for Litigation/Immigration rights?

I am ready to apply
7

Am I a Chartered Legal Executive?

Apply to be a Chartered Legal Executive
I am ready to apply


If you think you are ready to make your application to become a CILEx Practitioner, complete the application form here.

Information relating to application fees can be found here.

Once you have completed all the paperwork, please send your application to CILEx Regulation for assessment with your payment.

We may need to ask you for more information to clarify some of the information you have provided, once we have made a decision, we will write to you to let you know the outcome. This will be either:

  • Approved
  • A request for further information
  • Referred to committee
  • Refused

Where your application is referred to the Committee, we will schedule this for the next available meeting and we endeavour to contact all applicants whose application has been heard within 10 working days. Please note we are unable to communicate the outcome of your application by telephone.

For more information on the work of the Admissions and Licencing Committee, please click here

Next steps

We hope you are satisfied by the decision you have received. However, if you are unhappy with the decision you can appeal. More information on the appeals process can be found here