Chartered legal executive litigator and advocate
- Level
- 7
- Typical duration
- 66 months (about 5.5 years)
- Max funding band
- £27,000
- Route
- Legal, finance and accounting
- Regulated by
- CILEx Regulation
Handle legal matters including giving legal advice.
About the role
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.
How it compares
At 66 months (about 5.5 years), it is longer than average for a degree-level apprenticeship (the average across all 172 Level 6+ standards is 39 months).
The funding band — the maximum an employer's levy can contribute to training costs — is £27,000, at or above the £21,500 average for degree-level standards. Apprentices never pay tuition either way.
Typical job titles
- Chartered legal executive litigator and advocate
What you come out with
- Any qualification approved by CILEX Regulator — Level 7 (non-degree qualification)
- Professional recognition: CILEX Regulator — Chartered Legal Executive Litigation and Advocacy
What you'll learn
The official standard defines 26 core duties, 35 knowledge areas, 47 skills, 6 behaviours. This is the actual assessed content of the apprenticeship — worth reading before an interview, because competency questions are usually written straight from these lists.
Core duties 26
- Take instructions from clients, gather an understanding of client need and explain the risks and benefits of options available and proposed next steps.
- Set out legal research strategies, conduct legal research using a range of approaches and sources and provide analysis of outcomes to stakeholders.
- Review and analyse documents and data to identify key facts and evidence and form judgements on the quality of evidence and any gaps or contradictions.
- Apply findings from legal research to inform casework and decision-making strategies.
- Analyse and evaluate data and information to inform strategies and decision-making in legal casework.
- Make decisions in legal matters based on legal principles or the rule of law and within all legal and regulatory requirements.
- Provide ethical legal advice to clients appropriate to their circumstances and objectives.
- Exercise judgement to develop an effective case presentation theory.
- Prepare a coherent submission to the court based upon relevant facts, general principles, and legal authorities in a structured, concise and persuasive manner.
- Communicate with a range of stakeholders including clients selecting the most appropriate approach and tools.
- Represent clients in court using relevant communication skills and techniques used by an advocate.
- Present a coherent submission to the court, deal with witnesses and respond effectively to opponents and questions from the court.
- Present visualisations of data and information to communicate solutions to clients and stakeholders.
- Draft and produce legal documents within a template format and bespoke.
- Advocate and negotiate on behalf of clients in legal matters.
- Undertake risk and compliance activities regarding anti-money laundering regulations and due diligence and ensure compliance.
- Undertake Know Your Customer activities to ensure that the service being provided is the most effective and appropriate to their circumstances.
- Manage and apply financial information to caseloads to deliver outputs that are value for money and support customer or organisational objectives.
- Manage caseload in line with organisational approaches and ensure commerciality of activities is considered throughout.
- Source, handle and store confidential and sensitive information and digital data safely and securely.
- Deliver legal services using digital technology safely and securely to protect the organisation from cyber security risks and reputational harm with an awareness of benefits and risks to the organisation and clients.
- Undertake legal tasks with commercial impact and resource management in view.
- Provide technical advice and support to technical and non-technical colleagues including peer review of case work.
- Comply with the fundamental duties to the court, the administration of justice, to other advocates and appropriate ethics, etiquette and conventions of advocacy.
- Provide legal services in line with Regulatory requirements regarding Ethics Conduct and Professionalism including working regarding Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
- Maintain professional standards by undertaking continuous professional development activities.
Knowledge 35
- law and legal practice and procedures of specialist area of practice as set out in CILEx Regulation Chartered Legal Executive Handbooks.
- law and legal practice and procedures of advocacy for specialist area of practice, including the law of evidence as set out in CILEx Regulation Practice Rights Handbooks.
- approaches to research and information gathering including identification and selection of trusted sources and documentation.
- approaches to gathering, assessing and testing evidence to identify relevant issues.
- approaches to gathering, assessing and testing relevant factual, legal, procedural and evidential issues including identification and selection of trusted sources and documentation.
- approaches to problem solving, analytical techniques and synthesis, including the use of digital tools.
- approaches to assessment of strengths and weaknesses of a case.
- approaches to drafting a case theory and skeleton argument.
- the fundamental duties to the court, the administration of justice, to other advocates and appropriate ethics, etiquette and conventions of advocacy.
- Making an appropriate decision to appear and represent the client at court, including when it is inappropriate to act/cease to act for a client.
- Deal appropriately with client care and ethical issues, including good practice guidance when dealing with vulnerable witnesses and the available procedures relating to vulnerable witnesses.
- communication skills and techniques used by an advocate.
- preparation for advocacy and effective ways to undertake this.
- purpose, techniques, and tactics of all aspects of court advocacy, including opening speeches, examination in-chief, cross-examination, re-examination, and closing speeches to adduce, rebut and clarify evidence.
- approaches to drafting techniques.
- the principles of customer service including the impact of diversity and inclusion, be able to identify user need and manage customer expectations.
- the principles of ethical and professional frameworks and their relevance for legal service delivery including the purpose of regulatory arrangements for personal compliance.
- the ethical issues and obligations applying to the provision of legal services, including legal rules and regulations, organisational policies and the CILEx Regulation Code of Conduct.
- the principles of legal and regulatory liabilities with regards to clients and business to ensure compliance with all professional obligations, for example, the provision of ethical legal advice in the best interests of the customer and Anti-Money Laundering obligations.
- best practice in relation to emotional competence when dealing with customers from different backgrounds, including vulnerable clients and the principles of unconscious bias and its effects.
- approaches to formal and informal conflict resolution, advocacy, including the requirements for rights of audience for reserved areas of practice, and negotiation. Including, planning, preparation, strategy development, client expectations and risks to the client whilst behaving ethically and resisting pressure to condone, ignore or act unethically.
- approaches to communication, including use of clear language and the most appropriate media to communicate with different stakeholders and the principles of stakeholder management.
- emotional competence in communications with others, including respect for Equality Diversity Inclusion and vulnerability.
- approaches to building effective working relationships with third parties.
- financial methods and drivers operating within legal organisations including the purpose and principles of filing and recording systems and procedures. The principles of administering client accounts including the principles of time-recording and charging fee structures.
- principles of risk assessment, risk management and approaches to selecting the best actions for progressing matters.
- approaches to prioritising workloads, caseloads and time management, to ensure matters progress without delay and files are managed in accordance with office practices.
- approaches to digital technology, tools and software in the legal sector such as case management systems and drafting software for tasks including quality assurance of caseload outputs and storage, retrieval and analysis of data and information.
- legal requirements and ethical challenges relating to the use of legal technology in the legal sector, including risks to confidentiality of data posed by and to client’s actions, vulnerabilities to cyber threats and defensive measures.
- own organisation’s position in relation to different business models operating in the legal services sector, including an awareness of impact of commercial practices such as networking and marketing on organisations, developments in the legal sector and the wider economic and political environment and the principles of continuous improvement within organisations.
- commercial drivers of organisations including time recording and billing processes for legal services.
- approaches to stakeholder identification and stakeholder management including the significance of external and internal stakeholders to organisations.
- strategies for professional development to ensure ongoing competence and good practice, including identification of needs, reflection, evaluation, emotional competence, and recognition of emotions and vulnerabilities in others.
- fundamentals of teamworking, coaching and mentoring.
- how the activities of a Chartered Legal Executive litigator and advocate may contribute to their ‘professional carbon footprint’ and steps that can be taken to reduce it.
Skills 47
- establish the clients' existing position, needs and expectations and identify needs that they may not recognise, utilising specialist expertise as required.
- undertake independent research in the areas of specialism using standard legal information sources.
- conduct and collate legal and factual research around all aspects of the matter, including case law, legal procedure, legal changes and documentation in a thorough, pragmatic and organised manner, using the full range of available tools and digital technologies, including assessment of quality of research sources and apply it to the legal matter in hand, to produce research notes.
- identify the applicable law and procedures for legal matters.
- test and challenge information and data, establish evidence and evaluate its validity.
- analyse, synthesise, and evaluate information in different ways to determine how to act on client’s instructions and identify any real or potential conflicts of interest.
- undertake the analysis of factual, legal, procedural, and evidential information.
- integrate information and materials from a variety of different sources and identify appropriately the relevant chronology and issues.
- interpret results, present findings accurately and apply these to the legal matter using supporting evidence.
- summarise the strengths and weaknesses of each party’s case.
- provide clear and unambiguous legal advice to clients and service users, including advice on the available options, the risks, the costs and the benefits of alternative courses of action, next steps and providing supporting evidence.
- make critical judgments of the merits of particular arguments.
- present and make a reasoned choice between alternative solutions.
- develop an effective case presentation strategy.
- prepare a case theory that is both succinct and persuasive and that observes the rules of professional conduct.
- prepare a coherent submission to the court based upon relevant facts, general principles, and legal authorities in a structured, concise and persuasive manner in a practical setting in relation to an interim application.
- undertake an opening speech, examination-in-chief, cross-examination, re-examination, and a closing speech.
- deal effectively with uncooperative witnesses.
- call expert evidence when appropriate and use and challenge expert evidence effectively.
- deal with the court’s questions and concerns promptly.
- respond to an opponent’s points.
- prepare the necessary documentation on behalf of clients, draft and present legal documentation in line with professional standards including documents with bespoke content.
- select most appropriate method of communication and use accurate and suitable language in communication, both written and oral, to communicate to clients and stakeholders in a clear and impactful way.
- take accurate instructions relating to legal matters from colleagues and clients through use of interviewing skills, including effective listening.
- identify where information is missing or in the hands of third parties and take steps to obtain it.
- communicate clear, accurate and practical advice to the client, including where objectives may be unrealistic and respond appropriately to manage clients' legal needs and engage others in the team and externally with the necessary legal expertise.
- represent and advise clients through negotiation and advocacy.
- mitigate against conflict by managing underlying issues and mediate and manage conflict when it arises.
- negotiate outcomes on behalf of stakeholders to deliver the best possible outcome, taking steps to ensure agreement or compromise is reached which is clear, lawful and legally binding.
- build an internal and external network of contacts.
- take a customer-focused approach and build strong relationships with customer and third-party contacts at all levels.
- deliver legal services in line with customer service level agreements and commitments.
- identify steps to achieve customer's wishes or further their objectives and plan and implement progress steps.
- undertake ongoing communications with the customer to keep them informed and identify and communicate emerging risks.
- assist others in combining commercial and legal expertise to bring value to customers and the organisation.
- maintain filing and recording systems in compliance with organisational procedures.
- plan caseload and wider workload to meet deadlines and deliver outcomes for the client and the organisation.
- prioritise, plan and review progress and reschedule activities in line with changing priorities to meet changing client and business demands, in accordance with procedural requirements and legal time limits.
- contribute to the financial management of cases, including budgets, work in progress, timely billing and collection and variance recognition.
- meet quality assurance expectations within legal service provision.
- work collaboratively towards achieving customer and organisational objectives.
- manage own resource requirements, caseload and workflow, to objectives and budgets.
- support and advise colleagues on routine legal matters.
- contribute to a culture of continuous improvement including feedback mechanisms.
- using reflection and evaluation of own competence, recognise when the limit of technical competence and skills is reached and ask for support.
- agree and achieve own performance objectives and key performance indicators for personal delivery.
- apply the CILEx Regulation code of conduct and related professional and ethical frameworks, including, representing information and data honestly, accurately, completely and confidentially whilst maintaining its security, contributing to a culture of data and cyber security ensuring that digital technology is used safely and securely and upholding ethical risk management and professional standards and escalating issues as required.
Behaviours 6
- Ethical and Professional - Acts with integrity, impartiality and independence, demonstrates principled behaviour, follows rules, adheres to organisational and professional standards and manages risk. Knows limitations of abilities, refers technical work to others with the right expertise, admits mistakes and resists pressure to condone, ignore or act unethically.
- Analytical - Collects and understands information, analyses and challenges it, identifies issues, draws appropriate conclusions to solve problems and makes robust recommendations and decisions.
- Advocate - Takes instructions, holds appropriate advocacy rights, prepares for and acts for clients at trials and hearings and represents the interests of clients in the best way.
- Collaborative - Builds positive and trusted working relationships, respects the views and opinions of others, shares knowledge, deals with issues as they arise, works across boundaries, and makes contributions to the team.
- Accountable - takes responsibility for their actions and outcomes from their work.
- Innovative - seeks innovative solutions to problems and challenges.
Live vacancies
No live vacancies for this course as of 2026-07-24 — new adverts appear on Find an apprenticeship daily, and many degree apprenticeship employers recruit on their own careers sites instead.
Universities registered to deliver it
No university is currently on the provider register for this standard — delivery is by specialist training providers. The full provider list is on Find apprenticeship training.
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Official sources
- Official standard page (Skills England)
- Registered training providers (Find apprenticeship training)
Occupational summary, duties, knowledge, skills and behaviours reproduced from the ST1368 apprenticeship standard (last updated 2026-05-19) — contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Always check the official page before applying: standards get revised.