Following consultation, ACL members backed changes to the articles of association and by-laws to introduce the titles, Fellow and Costs Draftperson. Some 88% of respondents to the consultation voted in favour of introducing a Fellow category, while 82% were ‘broadly’ in favour of a Costs Draftperson category.
However, the ACL Council has now launched a fresh consultation on whether Costs Draftpersons should instead be described as Costs Paralegals, bringing the ACL in line with other professional bodies such as CILEX, the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, and the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys.
It is enquiring whether to expand ACL membership to costs lawyers at an earlier stage in their career. According to the consultation, this would assist them ‘with their professional development and introduce them to qualifying as a Costs Lawyer rather than achieving qualification via the alternative Solicitors Qualifying Exam or CILEX Professional Qualification routes’.
The consultation ends on 6 September.
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