A recent petition to parliament has been made asking for Chartered Legal Executives to be given the right to certify General and Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs).
The line of distinction separating Solicitors from Chartered Legal Executive lawyers has become blurred for some time.
After all, Chartered Legal Executives can apply for judicial positions with appointments of Chartered Legal Executive Judges now being made.
That being said, it seems fairly archaic that Chartered Legal Executives still suffer the professional indignity of being unable to certify General or Lasting Powers of Attorneys.
Viewed in the past as having a broader and more comprehensive understanding of legal matters, Solicitors are trusted with the power to certify LPAs. Despite the fact that Chartered Legal Executives are able to work with and advise their clients, research the issues and complete the relevant documentation, their signature and title are still not trusted enough to certify an LPA; an oversight that both Chartered Legal Executives and Solicitors will find embarrassing, inconvenient and inefficient.
This seems ridiculous when, under current legislation, a Chartered Legal Executive is expected to specialise in:
- conveyancing – the legal side of buying and selling property;
- family – advising on divorce and matters affecting children;
- crime – defending and prosecuting people accused of crimes;
- company and business law – advising on legislation that affects clients’ businesses such as tax, contract and employment law;
- litigation – advising clients who are in dispute with someone else;
- probate – dealing with wills, trusts and inheritance tax; and
- personal injury – handling accident claims.
Additionally, all Chartered Legal Executives are independently regulated to ensure that they adhere to a strict code of conduct and are required to fulfil Continued Professional Development (CPD) to stay abreast of new legal requirements. Overall, this level of scrutiny will create an extremely expert legal services provider.
Still, the inability to certify LPAs and being forced to trudge to a solicitor to approve the work suggests a level of inferiority that should be abolished in the modern day. Additionally, it could slow down the LPA process as the copy rests on a proverbial desk until the solicitor has the time to review and approve.
Sophie Yates, Chair of the Shropshire & Mid Wales CILEx branch, commented: “Currently, the law is extremely archaic and does not reflect the current status which Chartered Legal Executives have.
“It is simply daft that Chartered Legal Executives can be decision makers within law firms, run law firms and can be judges, have higher rights of audience but yet cannot certify copy Lasting Powers of Attorneys.
“For Legal Executives to have to rely on Solicitors within the practice is just out-dated and means that clients are limited in obtaining such certified copies from providers. The law needs to change in this regard.”
The petition, which requires 10,000 signatures before government will respond, is a clear sign that people believe that current legislation and restrictions must change.
You can find the petition here.
Have you experienced problems with certifying LPAs? Does this slow down the process? Have you signed the petition? Do you think Chartered Legal Executive’s should be able to certify LPAs?
