Legal executives to undertake conveyancing and probate services

Legal executives are to have the same rights as solicitors following a decision by the lord chancellor that he would make an order allowing them to undertake reserved activities.

The move implements the approval by the Legal Services Board last year to allow accountants and legal executives to carry out conveyancing and probate activities.

It follows Chris Grayling's decision last week to allow ICAEW to be an approved regulator for probate services and become a licensing body for alternative business structures.

The forthcoming order will enable chartered legal executives to offer probate and conveyancing services, and to practise independently in those areas without supervision by solicitors.

The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) is already an approved regulator under the Legal Services Act to regulate chartered legal executives to conduct litigation, exercise rights of audience and provide immigration services without supervision.

ILEX Professional Standards (IPS), the legal executives' regulator, will also be able to regulate law firms run by chartered legal executives providing these specialist legal services.

IPS chair Alan Kershaw (pictured), said: "This is an important step for consumer choice and for recognising the standards IPS expects of those we regulate.

"Consumers expect their lawyers to be well trained in their area of specialism and to have a means of recourse if they are not satisfied. These orders help ensure this, and we will now work with our colleagues in Westminster to ensure their smooth passage through Parliament."

CILEx president Stephen Gowland added that chartered legal executive-run businesses will provide "a competitive and high quality service, and the public will have greater choice over who they get their legal services from."

"Current law firms will also be able to deploy CILEx members to their full potential, and not be bound up in red tape with unnecessary sign-off requirements," he said.

"As the legal services industry is changing, these orders will help make us more resilient, innovative and diverse."

IPS will begin accepting applications for authorisation as soon as parliamentary approval of the current orders.

IPS expects to begin accepting applications from CILEx Fellows for all of these rights in the summer of 2014.

IPS is working with the Ministry of Justice on orders to enable client protection measures to be put in place, including a compensation fund and intervention arrangements.

These are expected to be approved by parliament later this year, after which CILEx authorised practitioners will be able to set up fully in business on their own.

IPS will also apply to the LSB in due course to be able to license alternative business structures (ABS) managed or owned by non-lawyers.