Can I switch from chartered legal executive to solicitor?

Dear Oracle

I passed the Legal Practice Course (LPC) two years ago and have been working as a paralegal. With no training contract in sight, can I become a chartered legal executive and go on to qualify as a solicitor that way?

The Oracle replies

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It’s possible to qualify as a solicitor after becoming a legal executive via the chartered legal executive equivalent means route until December 2032.

Following the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE), the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) introduced transitional arrangements to enable those eligible to continue to qualify this way until 2032. The transitional arrangements apply to candidates who completed, started or accepted an offer of a place for a qualifying law degree by 21 September 2021 and the Graduate Diploma in Law or the LPC before 1 September 2021.

A career as a CILEX lawyer is a rewarding and fulfilling professional destination in its own right, and it may be that you find having qualified as a CILEX lawyer, you’ve found your dream career and no longer want to switch. However, you may choose to use the experience and qualifications you’ve gained as a legal executive to count towards qualifying as a solicitor.

Read about the CILEX Professional Qualification via CILEX’s LCN page.

As a practising chartered legal executive who’s completed the LPC, you’d be exempt from having to complete a 'period of recognised training' (or training contract) and wouldn’t need to apply to the SRA for this exemption. You’d also be exempt from the period of recognised training if you’ve:

• met the SRA’s academic stage requirements through study or any exemptions you’ve been granted;
• completed core elements of the Professional Skills Course (PSC); or
• been working as a chartered legal executive in the legal profession.

To qualify as a solicitor, you’d need to provide evidence of your status as a qualified legal executive (ie, a copy of a certificate of good standing from CILEX Regulation, which is fewer than three months old), as well as a copy of your PSC and LPC certificates to the SRA, after which point you’d be all set to be admitted to the roll. 

The Solicitors Qualifying Exam

If you’re a CILEX member and the LPC route is no longer an option for you (ie, you don’t meet the SRA’s transitional arrangements), you can still qualify as a solicitor via the SQE.  

After you’ve either validated your UK law degree/level 6 qualification or applied for an equivalence using other qualifications, you must then pass SQE1 and SQE2 and record and confirm two years’ qualifying work experience in up to four organisations.

Once you’ve applied for your screening and received your results, you can apply to be admitted to the roll of solicitors in the same way as before.

Here’s more information about the alternative ways to qualify as a solicitor without a training contract.