header-logo header-logo

Conveyancing: time to modernise & move on

26 May 2017 / Peter Ambrose
Issue: 7747 / Categories: Features , Property
printer mail-detail
nlj_7747_ambrose

Succeeding in today’s market requires expertise, investment & a touch of excellence, says Peter Ambrose

We know conveyancing is not glamorous but its ability to generate cash and spin-off work makes it very attractive. This is why it is so important to modernise traditional conveyancing departments so they can generate profitable work without increasing the risks involved. Here are some key suggestions.

Case management

There’s no way around this. Today, conveyancing is not practical without an effective case management system.

A decline in the number of experienced conveyancers means support staff need to be more effective. Making case details available helps them to handle inbound enquiries which enables the fee-earner to focus on the work only they can do.

Action

Case management does not have to be implemented in a “Big Bang” approach—incremental change works fine. Extensive (and expensive) projects that try to solve all the problems at the first attempt are destined to fail. Avoid workflow-based solutions initially—go for the minimum —contact details, note-taking and an automated precedent bank.

Standardisation—fall

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

CBI South-East Council—Mike Wilson

CBI South-East Council—Mike Wilson

Blake Morgan managing partner appointed chair of CBI South-East Council

Birketts—Phillippa O’Neill

Birketts—Phillippa O’Neill

Commercial dispute resolution team welcomes partner in Cambridge

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Firm strengthens international funds capability with senior hire

NEWS
The proposed £11bn redress scheme following the Supreme Court’s motor finance rulings is analysed in this week’s NLJ by Fred Philpott of Gough Square Chambers
In this week's issue, Stephen Gold, NLJ columnist and former district judge, surveys another eclectic fortnight in procedure. With humour and humanity, he reminds readers that beneath the procedural dust, the law still changes lives
Generative AI isn’t the villain of the courtroom—it’s the misunderstanding of it that’s dangerous, argues Dr Alan Ma of Birmingham City University and the Birmingham Law Society in this week's NLJ
James Naylor of Naylor Solicitors dissects the government’s plan to outlaw upward-only rent review (UORR) clauses in new commercial leases under Schedule 31 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, in this week's NLJ. The reform, he explains, marks a seismic shift in landlord-tenant power dynamics: rents will no longer rise inexorably, and tenants gain statutory caps and procedural rights
Writing in NLJ this week, James Harrison and Jenna Coad of Penningtons Manches Cooper chart the Privy Council’s demolition of the long-standing ‘shareholder rule’ in Jardine Strategic v Oasis Investments
back-to-top-scroll