Fee-earner vs paralegal vs solicitor: the difference

A fee-earner is anyone whose time is charged to clients; it is a billing category, not a qualification. A solicitor is a qualified, SRA-regulated lawyer and is almost always a fee-earner. A paralegal does legal work without being a qualified lawyer, is usually a fee-earner too, and is graded D for costs. So a paralegal can be a fee-earner, but a fee-earner is not necessarily a solicitor.

Most confusion comes from treating the three words as a ladder when two of them answer different questions. "Fee-earner" answers "is this person's time billed?". "Solicitor" and "paralegal" answer "what is this person qualified and allowed to do?". This post separates the two, then covers the practical part: who may do what on a file, how each is charged, and how to decide who should handle which work. It is part of our series on what a fee-earner is.

Is a paralegal a fee-earner?

Usually, yes. If a paralegal's time is recorded against client matters, they are a fee-earner. The court's guidance says so directly: grade D covers "trainee solicitors, paralegals and other fee earners". Some firms employ paralegals in purely administrative roles, such as file opening or bundle preparation charged within overheads, and in those roles they may not record chargeable time. The job title does not settle it; the time recording does.

Is every solicitor a fee-earner?

Nearly every solicitor in private practice is. The exceptions are roles where the solicitor's time is not billed to clients: a compliance officer who does no client work, a knowledge lawyer, a solicitor in a business development or management role, or an in-house lawyer, whose employer is the client and who is not billing anyone. Being a solicitor is a qualification; being a fee-earner is what the firm does with your hours.

What is the difference between a paralegal and a solicitor?

Three differences matter in practice.

• Qualification and regulation. A solicitor has qualified (now through the SQE route for most new entrants) and holds a practising certificate from the SRA. "Paralegal" has no protected meaning in England and Wales; there are voluntary paralegal qualifications and memberships, but none is required to use the title.
• Reserved legal activities. The Legal Services Act 2007 reserves six activities to authorised persons: the exercise of a right of audience, the conduct of litigation, reserved instrument activities, probate activities, notarial activities and the administration of oaths. A solicitor is authorised for most of these. A paralegal is not, and can only assist within the limits the law allows.
• Grade and rate. For costs, a paralegal is grade D. A solicitor is grade A, B or C depending on post-qualification experience. That difference shows up directly in what the court will allow and, usually, in what the firm charges.

Can a paralegal run a file?

A paralegal can do a great deal of the work on a file, and in volume practices often does most of it. The limit is the reserved activities. In litigation, that limit was tested in 2025 and 2026.

In September 2025 the High Court held in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys that non-authorised fee-earners could not conduct litigation, which caused real concern across the profession. On 31 March 2026 the Court of Appeal overturned that decision. As summarised by Clyde & Co, the Court held that an unauthorised person can lawfully perform tasks within the scope of the conduct of litigation for an authorised individual, that the delegation requires proper management, supervision and control, and that the authorised individual keeps responsibility for the tasks delegated. The Court did not set out exactly which acts count as conduct of litigation.

So the short answer is: a paralegal can do the work, under supervision, on a file for which an authorised person remains responsible. Who that responsible person is, and what "with conduct" means, is covered in what "fee-earner with conduct" means. How your own firm should structure supervision after the judgment is a question for your COLP and, if needed, specialist regulatory advice.

Where does a chartered legal executive fit?

Between the two, and often alongside the solicitor. A Chartered Legal Executive is a qualified lawyer regulated through CILEX, graded alongside solicitors of similar experience for costs purposes. The court's guidance is specific that "legal executive" means a Fellow of CILEX; people who are not Fellows are not entitled to the title or, in principle, the same hourly rate.

Fee-earner vs non fee-earner: where does support staff fit?

A non fee-earner is anyone whose time is not charged to clients. Legal secretaries, receptionists, office managers, IT and finance teams are the usual examples. The line is not always clean. A secretary who drafts routine letters may be doing work that, in another firm, a paralegal would bill for. The question to ask is whether the time is recorded and billed, not whether the work looks legal. The divide has its own history in UK firms, which we look at in fee-earners and fee-burners.

A quick comparison

• Solicitor: qualified; SRA-regulated; authorised for most reserved activities; grade A, B or C; usually a fee-earner.
• Chartered legal executive: qualified through CILEX; regulated through CILEX; graded alongside solicitors of similar experience; usually a fee-earner.
• Trainee solicitor: training towards qualification; grade D; a fee-earner under supervision.
• Paralegal: no protected title or required qualification; not authorised for reserved activities in their own right; grade D; usually a fee-earner.
• Legal secretary or receptionist: support role; usually not a fee-earner.

How should a firm decide who does which work?

The court's own guidance gives a useful principle: work should be done at the appropriate level. The Guide to the Summary Assessment of Costs says, for example, that sitting behind counsel at most pre-trial hearings should be delegated to a more junior fee-earner. The same logic applies to everyday work. A simple way to apply it to a matter type:

• List every recurring task on the matter, from first call to closing letter.
• Mark the tasks that need judgement (advice, strategy, negotiation, signing off) and those that need authorisation (reserved activities). Those stay with the solicitor or legal executive with conduct.
• Mark the tasks that need care but not judgement (drafting from precedent, chasing, preparing bundles, updating the client). Those can go to a paralegal or trainee under supervision.
• Mark the tasks that need neither (taking a new enquiry's details, booking appointments, answering routine status questions). Those should not be on a fee-earner's desk at all.

A hypothetical conveyancing team, with invented numbers, might find that of 40 recurring tasks on a purchase, 9 need a qualified conveyancer, 19 can be done by a paralegal, and 12 are administration or status updates that currently fall on whoever picks up the phone. That last group is where time quietly leaks from every grade.

Can a paralegal become a solicitor?

Yes, and for many it is now a more direct route than it used to be. Under the SQE route, the SRA requires two years' full-time (or equivalent) qualifying work experience, which can be gained at up to four organisations, and it lists working as a paralegal among the settings where that experience can be gained. The experience must be confirmed by a solicitor of England and Wales or a COLP who has reviewed the work and had feedback from the person supervising it.

For a firm, that has a practical consequence. A paralegal's supervisor is not only protecting the file; they may be the person who will later confirm that paralegal's qualifying work experience. Supervision that happens in snatched minutes between client calls is thin supervision for both purposes.

Should a small firm hire a paralegal or a solicitor?

It depends on where the bottleneck is. Three questions help:

• Is the solicitor's time going on work only a solicitor can do? If most of their week is advice, negotiation and reserved activities, and they still cannot keep up, you need more qualified capacity.
• Or on work that needs care but not qualification? If a lot of the week is drafting from precedent, chasing and preparing documents, a paralegal under supervision frees more solicitor time per pound.
• Or on work that needs neither? If the week is eaten by calls, new enquiries and status questions, neither hire fixes it. A new paralegal will simply inherit the same interruptions.

Run the task-sorting exercise above on one matter type before deciding. It is quicker than a recruitment cycle and usually more revealing.

How should each role be introduced to clients?

Clearly and early. Clients do not always know the difference between a paralegal and a solicitor, and some assume anyone who picks up the phone about their matter is qualified. A client care letter that names the person with conduct, their supervisor and anyone else who will work on the file, with each person's role in plain words, avoids that confusion. For certain services, the SRA Transparency Rules also require firms to publish the experience and qualifications of anyone carrying out the work, and of their supervisors. When the team changes, tell the client.

How do the rates compare?

The guideline hourly rates set a starting point for recoverable costs by grade. From 1 January 2026 the GOV.UK table has grade D at £142 an hour in the National bands and £210 in London 1, and grade C (junior solicitors and legal executives) at £200 to £305 depending on band. More detail is in guideline hourly rates for fee-earners. What a firm charges its own clients is a separate commercial decision.

Where does WasilX fit?

In the last category of work: the tasks that should not be on any fee-earner's desk. Cam, our AI Engagement Coordinator, takes calls on the firm's line at any hour, says it is AI, asks the firm's own qualifying questions, books the call back and sends the firm a summary. Each fee-earner's personal assistant covers their calls while they are in court and drafts matter updates for the fee-earner to approve. If that would help your team, we are happy to talk. For how roles fit together across a whole firm, see law firm structure in the UK.

Frequently asked questions

Is a paralegal a fee-earner? Usually. If a paralegal's time is recorded and charged to client matters, they are a fee-earner, and the court's guidance places paralegals in grade D.

Can a paralegal call themselves a lawyer? "Paralegal" and "lawyer" are not protected titles in the way "solicitor" is, but a paralegal must not suggest they are a solicitor or that they are authorised for reserved activities. If in doubt, check with your firm's COLP.

Can a paralegal conduct litigation? Not in their own right. The Court of Appeal held on 31 March 2026 in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys that an unauthorised person may carry out litigation tasks for an authorised individual under proper supervision, with the authorised individual keeping responsibility.

What is the difference between a fee-earner and a solicitor? A fee-earner is anyone whose time is billed to clients. A solicitor is a qualified, SRA-regulated lawyer. Most solicitors are fee-earners, but many fee-earners, such as paralegals and trainees, are not solicitors.

What is a non fee-earner? Someone whose time is not charged to clients, such as a legal secretary, receptionist, office manager or finance team member.