Making tech at home in conveyancing

• Why residential property lawyers should embrace AI and use it to their advantage.

When it comes to driving technology innovation, residential conveyancing tends to take a bit of a back seat—which is ironic, given that risk management is among the biggest benefit offered by technology, and conveyancing is the discipline that carries the most risk today.

As buying or selling a property is the most common reason for someone to instruct a lawyer, this makes competition fierce and margins slim. Law firm owners will acknowledge that residential property work is often at the back of the queue for investment, despite its ability to generate cash for the business quickly.

Unfortunately, investment in new technology for conveyancers remains sluggish. Moreover, the stamp duty land tax holiday experience still casts a long shadow, making retention and recruitment of experienced staff challenging.

A highly fragmented market

Bringing technology change to a low margin activity is tricky.