What it costs to set up a CILEX-regulated firm
A chartered legal executive can own and run a law firm. 22 do. CILEx Regulation publishes three separate fee schedules and this is them added together, for the smallest firm the regime contemplates.
The smallest case: sole practitioner, conveyancing, holding client money
| 2026, turnover under £100,000 | £ |
|---|---|
| Application fee (non-ABS, client money held) | 1,260 |
| Annual practice fee | 1,138 |
| Compensation fund (conveyancing, turnover to £250k, client money) | 750 |
| First year | 3,148 |
| Each year after | 1,888 |
What moves the number
| Choice | Effect |
|---|---|
| Not holding client money (or using approved escrow) | Application £767 instead of £1,260, practice fee £632 instead of £1,138, compensation fund £500 instead of £750. Roughly halves the bill. |
| Being an ABS (a non-lawyer owner) | Application fee £2,117 instead of £1,260 — £857 more at the door, for the structure that lets outside capital in. |
| Conveyancing or probate rather than litigation | Higher compensation fund contribution at every band: £6,090 against £5,075 at the top. Client money is why. |
| Growing | Both the practice fee and the fund contribution are banded by turnover, so they rise in steps as you do. |
The thing a client should know and usually is not told
The compensation fund pays out when a regulated firm's dishonesty or failure to account leaves a client out of pocket. But of the 48 area authorisations the 22 CILEX-authorised firms hold, 23 are covered by insurance and fall outside the compensation arrangements — nearly all of them wills and trusts. A firm can be inside the fund for its conveyancing and outside it for its will-writing. Which firms, and which areas.
What the fees do not cover
Professional indemnity insurance, premises, practice management software, accountant's reports, and the practice right for the reserved work itself. And clients: this site has found that three in ten of the profession return nothing in a web search under their own name, and that the Law Society's directory outranks the firm's own site for 160 of the firms legal executives work at. A new firm starts below both.