In late 2025 the High Court delivered a decision in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys that should be a wake-up call for law firms, CILEX professionals, and legal leadership teams across the UK.

This isn’t a niche case you can file away as “only relevant to litigators.” The judgment has significant implications for the status, training and recognition of CILEX qualified lawyers – and, critically, how law firms develop and retain them.

Why Mazur Matters to CILEX Professionals

At its core, the Mazur decision reinforces the principle that competence and formal qualification matter – not just title inflation or internal firm labels.

The Court’s analysis underlined that:

• Legal services must be provided by individuals whose qualification and training match the responsibility they are given;
• Regulatory and contractual representations about a person’s competence can have real legal consequences when things go wrong; and
• Firms can be held accountable for failing to ensure their practitioners are trained to required professional standards.

For CILEX practitioners – especially those handling reserved legal activities – this means the distinction between having a CILEX qualification and possessing SQE-equivalent competence is now more than theoretical.

If a client is misled about your ability to undertake work, or if a firm doesn’t support your development to a market-recognised standard, the potential for liability risk (and reputational damage) increases.

What This Means for Law Firms

Firms that have built strong teams around CILEX professionals, rightly celebrating the diversity of routes into the profession, now face a strategic imperative:

Ensure your CILEX lawyers are trained and assessed against SQE-level standards.

Why?

1. Client Expectations Are Changing
   Clients increasingly ask for assurance that their legal team meets national competency benchmarks, not just firm-specific titles.
2. Regulatory Scrutiny Is Sharpening
   Regulators and courts will not favour back-office labels over demonstrable capability. Firms that treat CILEX training as “nice to have” risk exposure.
3. Retention & Career Progression Depend on Professional Development
   CILEX professionals want- and deserve- clear, respected pathways to senior responsibility. Firms without robust competency architectures will lose talent to firms that invest in development.

The Strategic Solution: SQE Training for CILEX Professionals

This is where the FLC SQE Training Programme comes into play.

At Freedom Law Clinic we’ve designed our in-house SQE training with exactly this challenge in mind: give CILEX qualified lawyers and aspiring solicitors the knowledge, skills and confidence to perform at the level the market now demands.

Our programme helps firms to:

• Upskill CILEX practitioners to SQE1 & SQE2 readiness – closing knowledge gaps and shoring up confidence;
• Demonstrate training rigour to clients, regulators and courts;
• Create structured career pathways that reduce churn and increase loyalty;
• Mitigate risk by aligning internal competence frameworks with national standards.

We know it’s not just about passing an exam – it’s about embedding learning in real-world practice. That’s why our training is practical, flexible and tailored to your firm’s needs.

Find out more about how your firm can train its CILEX professionals with confidence:
https://freedomlawclinic.org/in-house-sqe-training-programme/