Chartered legal executive litigator and advocate (L7)

This occupation is found in organisations from small law firms to large corporate entities and public bodies, anywhere that offers or requires litigation and advocacy services. A Chartered Legal Executive Litigator and Advocate (CLELA)) works in areas of law that require presenting in court on family, civil or criminal matters.

The broad purpose of the occupation is to handle legal matters including giving legal advice and present in the courts. Presenting in court is a reserved or regulated area of legal practice. As the CLELA has specialised in a reserved or regulated area of practice, they will hold the appropriate rights to practise in that area independently, including advising and representing their clients in the County Court, Family Proceedings Court, Magistrates’ Court including the Youth Court, Coroners Court and in most Tribunals. The CLELA drafts legal documents, including case theory, skeleton arguments and submissions to the courts. They may also act as a Commissioner for Oaths.

Depending upon which area of law they work in, CLELA lawyers may be involved in litigation in the High Court, litigation and advocacy in the County Courts, advising and representing husbands and wives with matrimonial problems or clients accused of serious or petty crime.

CLELA lawyers are fee earners and are able to set up their own legal practice once qualified. In private practice, their work is charged directly to clients making a direct contribution to the income of a law firm.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with members of their immediate legal team, legally and non-legally trained stakeholders and customers who use their services. They may also interact with government departments, financial institutions, regulators and professional bodies. They will regularly attend relevant Courts and Tribunals to represent their clients and need to gain two years’ experience in the courts for which they are seeking rights of audience prior to completion of the apprenticeship.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for managing a caseload of legal matters, providing advice to customers and advocating for clients in courtroom settings. The CLELA works unsupervised within their area of specialism.

Chartered Legal Executive Litigator and Advocate
A Chartered Legal Executive Litigator and Advocate is a qualified legal professional who specialises in litigation and advocacy, representing clients in court, managing legal cases, and providing expert legal advice within their authorised area of practice.

Forbes Solicitors, Fletchers Solicitors, Wigan Council, Irwin Mitchell, Ministry of Justice, Essex Law Ltd, Alphlegal, National Highways, Hemsley Fraser.

K1: Law, legal practice, and procedures of the specialist area of practice as set out in the CILEx Regulation Chartered Legal Executive Handbooks.

K2: Law, legal practice, and advocacy procedures for the specialist area of practice, including the law of evidence, as set out in the CILEx Regulation Practice Rights Handbooks.

K3: Approaches to legal research and information gathering, including identification and selection of trusted sources and documentation.

K4: Approaches to gathering, assessing, and testing evidence to identify relevant legal and procedural issues.

K5: Approaches to gathering, assessing, and testing relevant factual, legal, procedural, and evidential issues, including identification and selection of trusted sources and documentation.

K6: Approaches to problem-solving, analytical techniques, and synthesis, including the effective use of digital tools.

K7: Approaches to assessing the strengths and weaknesses of a case.

K8: Approaches to drafting case theory and skeleton arguments.

K9: Fundamental duties owed to the court, the administration of justice, other advocates, and the ethical standards, etiquette, and conventions of advocacy.

K10: Making appropriate decisions to appear and represent clients in court, including recognising when it is inappropriate to act or when to cease acting for a client.

K11: Approaches to client care and ethical issues, including good practice guidance when dealing with vulnerable witnesses and relevant procedural protections.

K12: Communication skills and techniques used by advocates.

K13: Preparation for advocacy and effective methods for undertaking advocacy preparation.

K14: Purpose, techniques, and tactics of court advocacy, including opening speeches, examination-in-chief, cross-examination, re-examination, and closing speeches to adduce, rebut, and clarify evidence.

K15: Approaches to drafting techniques in legal practice.

K16: Principles of customer service, including the impact of diversity and inclusion, identification of user needs, and management of client expectations.

K17: Principles of ethical and professional frameworks and their relevance to legal service delivery, including regulatory arrangements for personal compliance.

K18: Ethical issues and professional obligations in the provision of legal services, including legal rules, organisational policies, and the CILEx Regulation Code of Conduct.

K19: Principles of legal and regulatory liabilities relating to clients and business operations to ensure compliance with professional obligations, including ethical advice and Anti-Money Laundering requirements.

K20: Best practice in emotional competence when working with clients from diverse backgrounds, including vulnerable clients, and understanding unconscious bias and its effects.

K21: Approaches to formal and informal conflict resolution and advocacy, including rights of audience, negotiation strategies, planning, preparation, risk management, and ethical conduct under pressure.

K22: Approaches to communication, including the use of clear language, appropriate media selection, and principles of stakeholder management.

K23: Emotional competence in professional communications, including respect for Equality, Diversity, Inclusion, and vulnerability.

K24: Approaches to building and maintaining effective working relationships with third parties.

K25: Financial methods and drivers within legal organisations, including filing and recording systems, administration of client accounts, time recording, and fee-charging structures.

K26: Principles of risk assessment, risk management, and selecting appropriate actions to progress legal matters.

K27: Approaches to prioritising workloads, caseload management, and time management to ensure timely progression of matters in line with office practices.

K28: Approaches to digital technologies, tools, and software in the legal sector, including case management systems and drafting software for quality assurance, data storage, retrieval, and analysis.

K29: Legal requirements and ethical challenges relating to the use of legal technology, including data confidentiality risks, cyber threats, and appropriate defensive measures.

K30: Understanding the organisation’s position within different legal services business models, including the impact of networking, marketing, sector developments, and the wider economic and political environment, alongside principles of continuous improvement.

K31: Commercial drivers of legal organisations, including time recording and billing processes.

K32: Approaches to stakeholder identification and stakeholder management, recognising the significance of internal and external stakeholders.

K33: Strategies for professional development to ensure ongoing competence and good practice, including reflection, evaluation, emotional competence, and recognising emotions and vulnerabilities in others.

K34: Fundamentals of teamwork, coaching, and mentoring within legal practice.

K35: Understanding how the activities of a Chartered Legal Executive litigator and advocate contribute to their professional carbon footprint and identifying actions to reduce environmental impact.

S1: Establish clients’ existing position, needs, and expectations, identifying unrecognised needs and utilising specialist expertise where required.

S2: Undertake independent research within areas of specialism using standard legal information sources.

S3: Conduct and collate comprehensive legal and factual research, including case law, procedure, legal developments, and documentation, using appropriate tools and digital technologies to produce structured research notes.

S4: Identify applicable law and procedures relevant to legal matters.

S5: Test and challenge information and data, establish evidence, and evaluate its validity.

S6: Analyse, synthesise, and evaluate information to determine actions on client instructions and identify real or potential conflicts of interest.

S7: Analyse factual, legal, procedural, and evidential information.

S8: Integrate information from multiple sources, identifying relevant chronology and key issues.

S9: Interpret results, present findings accurately, and apply them to the legal matter with supporting evidence.

S10: Summarise strengths and weaknesses of each party’s case.

S11: Provide clear, unambiguous legal advice, including options, risks, costs, benefits, next steps, and supporting evidence.

S12: Make critical judgments on the merits of legal arguments.

S13: Present and justify reasoned choices between alternative solutions.

S14: Develop effective case presentation strategies.

S15: Prepare succinct, persuasive case theories in line with professional conduct rules.

S16: Prepare coherent submissions to the court for interim applications using relevant facts, principles, and authorities.

S17: Undertake advocacy activities including opening speeches, examination-in-chief, cross-examination, re-examination, and closing speeches.

S18: Deal effectively with uncooperative witnesses.

S19: Call, use, and challenge expert evidence appropriately.

S20: Respond promptly and effectively to the court’s questions and concerns.

S21: Respond effectively to opponents’ arguments.

S22: Prepare, draft, and present legal documentation to professional standards, including bespoke documents.

S23: Select appropriate communication methods and use clear, accurate language in written and oral communications.

S24: Take accurate instructions using effective interviewing and listening skills.

S25: Identify missing information or third-party-held information and take steps to obtain it.

S26: Communicate practical advice clearly, manage unrealistic objectives, and engage appropriate internal or external expertise.

S27: Represent and advise clients through negotiation and advocacy.

S28: Mitigate conflict by addressing underlying issues and managing disputes when they arise.

S29: Negotiate outcomes to achieve lawful, binding agreements or compromises.

S30: Build and maintain internal and external professional networks.

S31: Adopt a customer-focused approach and build strong relationships with clients and third parties.

S32: Deliver legal services in line with customer service level agreements and commitments.

S33: Identify, plan, and implement steps to achieve client objectives.

S34: Maintain ongoing communication with clients, keeping them informed and highlighting emerging risks.

S35: Support others in combining commercial and legal expertise to add value.

S36: Maintain filing and recording systems in line with organisational procedures.

S37: Plan caseloads and workloads to meet deadlines and deliver outcomes.

S38: Prioritise, plan, review, and reschedule work to meet changing demands and legal time limits.

S39: Contribute to financial management of cases, including budgeting, billing, and variance recognition.

S40: Meet quality assurance standards in legal service delivery.

S41: Work collaboratively to achieve customer and organisational objectives.

S42: Manage personal resources, caseload, and workflow against objectives and budgets.

S43: Support and advise colleagues on routine legal matters.

S44: Contribute to a culture of continuous improvement through feedback mechanisms.

S45: Reflect on own competence, recognise limits, and seek support when required.

S46: Agree and achieve personal performance objectives and key performance indicators.

S47: Apply the CILEx Regulation Code of Conduct and ethical frameworks, ensuring confidentiality, data and cyber security, ethical risk management, and appropriate escalation of issues.

B1: Ethical and Professional – Act with integrity, impartiality, and independence, demonstrating principled behaviour. Follow legal rules, organisational policies, and professional standards, and manage risk appropriately. Recognise personal limitations, refer technical matters to those with appropriate expertise, acknowledge mistakes, and resist pressure to condone, ignore, or engage in unethical conduct.

B2: Analytical – Collect, understand, analyse, and critically challenge information; identify key issues; draw sound conclusions; and make robust recommendations and decisions to resolve problems effectively.

B3: Advocate – Take clear instructions, exercise appropriate advocacy rights, prepare thoroughly for trials and hearings, and represent clients’ interests effectively and professionally.

B4: Collaborative – Build positive, trusted working relationships; respect diverse views and opinions; share knowledge; address issues constructively as they arise; work across professional boundaries; and contribute effectively to team objectives.

B5: Accountable – Take responsibility for personal actions, professional judgments, and the outcomes of work delivered.

B6: Innovative – Seek, develop, and apply innovative and effective solutions to legal problems and professional challenges.