National Paralegal Awards 2020 Ceremony Goes Virtual

The Professional Paralegal Register (PPR) is counting down to the National Paralegal Awards taking place on Friday 18 September.  The PPR normally welcomes over 270 guests at a venue in central London in March for its annual ceremony but this year was forced to postpone it because of the coronavirus outbreak.  A decision was taken by the team at PPR to run the event virtually to reveal the many talented winners across multiple categories.

With over 400 expected to attend, this year’s finalists, along with their colleagues, friends, and family will now be tuning in from offices and homes around the UK to enjoy the free-to-watch-virtual ceremony, when the winners will be revealed for categories: 

  • Best Conveyancing Paralegal
  • Best Trade Mark Paralegal
  • Best Patent Paralegal
  • Best Arbitration/Mediation Paralegal
  • Best Employment/HR Paralegal
  • Best Probate Research Paralegal
  • Best Will Writing Paralegal 
  • Best Family Law Paralegal
  • Best Civil Litigation Paralegal
  • Paralegal Business of the Year
  • Will Writing Organisation of the Year  
  • Best Law Firm – Paralegal Development
  • Paralegal Recruitment Organisation of the Year 
  • Paralegal of the Year (Midlands/North)
  • Paralegal of the Year (South)
  • Paralegal of the Year 
  • PPR Outstanding Achievement Award 

This year’s headline sponsor is international genealogists and probate researchers, Fraser and Fraser, who were awarded ‘Paralegal Business of the Year 2019’.

Rita Leat, Managing Director of the PPR commented:

“While the ceremony will be different from usual, we are embracing the spirit of change and relishing the opportunity to shine a positive spotlight on the paralegal community at this difficult time.  I very much hope people will enjoy tuning into the programme we have planned on the night”

The live event will take place from 7pm with the opportunity for finalists, sponsors, judges, and their guests to network via a chat facility from 6:30pm.   We wish good luck to all the finalists that have made this year’s shortlist and look forward to welcoming you to a night of celebration”.

For the second year, the events charity partner will support Young Citizens, who work to help young people become active, engaged and motivated citizens, who are able to contribute positively to their communities. 

A recording of the live event will be made available on the National Paralegal Awards website for public viewing in the coming weeks. 

For further information including our finalists, sponsors and judges visit www.nationalparalegalawards.com

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For further comment, please contact:

Rita Leat, Managing Director, The Professional Paralegal Register 
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 0203 039 3710 

September 16, 2020 Uncategorized 0

PPR applauds the Independent Review of Legal Services Regulation

Rita Leat, Managing Director of the Professional Paralegal Register (PPR) has given Rita Leat, Managing Director of the PPRpraise to Professor Stephen Mason for undertaking the Independent Review of Legal Services Regulation.

The current system of regulation via the approved regulators under the Legal Services Board is at best confusing and at worst detrimental for consumers to enable them to understand where to turn for redress when things go wrong.

There has been a strong argument to suggest that one super regulator such as the LSB should be formed that would help consumers to access redress quicker and more simply, with one set of regulations that cover all providers of Legal Services. This of course is not something that has been received well by individual regulators who wish to keep their set of regulations as being specific to job titles. But is this the right approach?

Regulation of the services (where needed) makes better sense to ensure that only those high-risk matters are indeed regulated. This would better enable professional bodies to regulate conduct only with no overlap with the regulation applied to certain services.

From the unregulated sector, the PPR has risen to provide an overarching voluntary regulatory scheme for all those who would otherwise remain unregulated. Regulation here covers all job titles as there are no real differences in the requirements for professional practice no matter what your job title is.

The PPR, similar to Cilex, operate a two-tier approach to regulation. Recognised Bodies of the PPR handle first Tier complaints which can then be escalated to the PPR as an independent regulator operating an arbitration scheme.

As the leading authority and regulatory scheme for Paralegals we enable individuals to practice specific services only which makes it transparent for consumers.

The PPR who recently held the first National Paralegal Awards with 200 attending across the sector, are determined to rid the legal services market of self-regulatory schemes that offer no protection for consumers who are left to pick up the pieces of an unsatisfactory service.

Kate Hoey, MP recently said ‘regulation by membership bodies is not regulation at all as it does not offer real redress for consumers’. Kate Hoey is a Patron of the PPR and advocates that all Paralegals should join the PPR. No other form of ‘self-regulation’ is recognised by the PPR.

The PPR welcomes the report next year and continues to strive to ensure that consumers are put at the heart of all regulatory decisions.

May 3, 2019 Uncategorized 0

Sir Robin Knowles, CBE awarded with PPR Outstanding Achievement Award 2020

The Professional Paralegal Register is delighted to announce that the PPR Outstanding Achievement Award was given to Sir Robin Knowles, CBE at the National Paralegal Awards virtual ceremony on Friday 18 September.  The award was given in recognition of Sir Robin’s life- long commitment to the legal profession, continuing work on access to justice for those without means and promoting a diverse legal sector where the Paralegal Profession plays an important role.

Sir Robin was involved in rewriting the Commercial Court Guide as part of the Woolf Reforms. He was a member of the Aikens working party on “supercases”. With Sir William Blair, he worked successfully to secure the new Queen’s Counsel system. With others, he led work to bring about the Rolls Building – the world’s largest dedicated business dispute resolution centre.

Commenting at the virtual award ceremony: 

“Paralegals comprise of one of the second largest sectors of the legal profession and paralegals providing legal services have a collective effort to improve access to justice.   Paralegals should seize the opportunity to come together to act within the public interest and commit to providing services pro bono”.  Sir Robin said that if just 10% of paralegals contributed personally, collectively and collaboratively it would be the greatest single step forward for access to justice in a decade. 

Sir Robin Knowles laid down the gauntlet to the PPR and called upon paralegals to task Rita Leat, Managing Director of the PPR and Chief Executive of the Institute of Paralegals to present to the Civil Justice Council forum in December what the Paralegal sector pledge to do pro bono to give those without means access to justice. 

Over 500 tuned in to the awards ceremony.  To watch a playback of the virtual event visit https://youtu.be/tvGchIOFqbY 

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Notes to editors 

The Professional Paralegal Register

The Professional Paralegal Register (PPR) is a voluntary registered scheme to promote professional paralegals as a recognised fourth arm of the legal profession and to enhance consumer choice and protection.  Only Paralegals that are on this register are regulated by PPR.

Employers and consumers can be assured that those individuals on the register meet the required standards of both the individual’s recognised membership body and the robust criteria set by the PPR. 

Paralegals who are on the Register are regulated in terms of their professional conduct however, Professional Paralegals who hold a Paralegal Practising Certificate (PPC) are fully regulated to offer legal services to consumers.

For further comment, please contact:

Rita Leat, Managing Director, The Professional Paralegal Register 
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 0203 039 3710 

October 2, 2020 Uncategorized 0

The Paralegal Profession in 2020 - Press Release

In late 2019, TotallyLegal asked over 3,000 legal professionals about the details of their daily working lives for our Audience Insight Report. The responses we received included those from over 300 Paralegals who, at 9% of the total respondents, make up one of the largest groups in our audience.

We looked deeper into the data provided by our Paralegal audience to gain a greater understanding of how these professionals fared in 2019, before looking forward to the state of the profession in 2020 and beyond. With invaluable contributions from Institute of Paralegals’ CEO Rita Leat and practising Paralegal Gemma Williams, we wrote a long-read article exploring the inner workings of the role.

With a fifth of all Paralegals more than 3 years in to their current role and 32% offered a bonus on top of their basic earnings, one of our key findings concerned the growing number of apparent Career Paralegals among our audience. Taking on the fee earning work traditionally reserved for Solicitors and filling the gap left by cuts to legal aid, these professionals aren’t using the role as a stepping-stone to qualification or as a means of gaining experience but are instead choosing to carve out long-term Paralegal careers. In the article, we explore in greater detail why this is the case, before discussing with experts the impact this may have on the profession in the coming years.

Another key issue uncovered by our study is that of pay gaps – both gender and ethnic – within the Paralegal profession. Elsewhere, we look at the practice areas most in need of Paralegal talent and the locations in which Paralegals want to work, before breaking down the different benefits available to Paralegals and revealing which type of employers are most likely to offer them.

Additionally, the article provides the opportunity for practising Paralegals to benchmark their current earnings based on tenure, experience level, location, practice area and more.

If you are a Paralegal looking to discover more about the inner workings of your profession, hoping to see what the future may hold for your role or simply interested in comparing your salary with your contemporaries, TotallyLegal’s The Paralegal Profession in 2020 makes for essential reading.

April 22, 2020 Uncategorized, Press Release, Paralegals, Unregulated Legal Sector 0

The Professional Paralegal Register is looking for a new Chair of the Register Regulatory Committee

The Professional Paralegal Register (‘PPR’) is a voluntary regulatory scheme for paralegals. We are recruiting a new Chair to the Register Regulatory Committee (‘RRC’ or the ‘Committee’) to take forward the expansion of the PPR under the umbrella of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (‘CILEX’). CILEX acquired the PPR in January 2023.

We are looking to appoint a new Chair to ensure the work of the Committee is undertaken in accordance with all applicable regulatory rules. The Chair will offer critical and innovative insight into how we can best develop and will play a vital role in the direction and development of a national paralegal register.

We are looking for a confident leader with experience of chairing boards or committees. Applicants will ideally have complaints handling, adjudication, and/or arbitration experience. We also welcome applicants with regulatory experience, particularly relating to the regulation of legal or other professionals.

Your leadership will also ensure other members of the RRC are engaged and valued within our organisation.

The Chair is appointed on a voluntary basis. Meetings of the RRC normally take place online. However, reasonable travel expenses can be claimed in relation to any necessary travel.

Please provide a covering letter explaining why you are interested in becoming our Chair and the skills and experience you would bring to the role. Suitable applicants will be interviewed via Zoom by a panel consisting of the current Chair and members of the RRC. The deadline for applications is 21 November, and interviews will take place on 1 December 2023, time TBC.

Please send covering letters to the Professional Paralegal Register by email at [email protected].

October 30, 2023 Uncategorized 0