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16 June 2011 / Phillip Oldcorn
Issue: 7470 / Categories: Features , Property
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A risky business?

Phillip Oldcorn explains how innovation can help reduce risk

Here’s a suggestion for an interesting game for the conveyancer’s office. Ask your next few clients how they think risk is managed in their conveyancing transaction.

Agree among the staff a selection of possible answers; the Land Registry, the conveyancer is responsible for all conveyancing risk, the Law Society will protect me etc.  Do a sweepstake for the answers among the staff. Sit back and enjoy the game!

The correct answer is that there are several factors which mitigate most but not all conveyancing risks. Think of the following: good quality conveyancing practice, a (limited) Land Registry guarantee, PI insurance.  But how often do we stop and consider the uninsured risks that the best conveyance cannot prevent?  How can we cater for a dishonest seller? Why doesn’t anyone measure and/or GPS the boundaries of a property?  How can we protect those most vulnerable to mortgage or identity fraud?

Blind spots

There is a real consumer blind spot and lack of curiosity about the subject. This

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Dual-qualified partner joins as head of commercial property department

Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

Firm announces appointment of next chair

Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

Director joins corporate team from the US

NEWS
What safeguards apply when trust corporations are appointed as deputy by the Court of Protection? 
Disputing parties are expected to take part in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), where this is suitable for their case. At what point, however, does refusing to participate cross the threshold of ‘unreasonable’ and attract adverse costs consequences?
When it comes to free legal advice, demand massively outweighs supply. 'Millions of people are excluded from access to justice as they don’t have anywhere to turn for free advice—or don’t know that they can ask for help,' Bhavini Bhatt, development director at the Access to Justice Foundation, writes in this week's NLJ
When an ex-couple is deciding who gets what in the divorce or civil partnership dissolution, when is it appropriate for a third party to intervene? David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor advocate, considers this thorny issue in this week’s NLJ
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
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