Technology and the Conveyancing process! Benefit or hindrance?
By far conveyancing is the fastest moving legal industry; however, there are too many moving wheels in conveyancing. Fact!
First off it is driven by commission motivated estate agents.
Then in the passenger seat are the deadline/move driven clients.
Finally, the backseat drivers, the pragmatic, yet legally motivated conveyancer. The Conveyancer in my opinion should always be in the driving seat with conveyancing. But quite often they are not.
People are constantly looking for ways to increase efficiency with conveyancing, whether it be the volume firms that focus on quantity, the ‘no sale no fee’ crusaders, the online estate agents or the ‘sell your house in a month’ firms. To me it’s all affecting the quality of the work but also how conveyancing is perceived by legal peers, agents and clients…
Does technology have a part to play in this? And is it a hindrance or benefit?
My short answer would be yes and that Conveyancing’s relationship with technology is a bit of a red herring. As you read on you, you will come to see why.
Technology and Client
Firstly let’s deal with Technology and Client. They are the forefront of conveyancing and the most important wheel in the transaction. Without them there is no Conveyancing. In my opinion they may have too much access to information which makes them harder to manage. Now I am not saying they should not be informed, I am simply saying they should be informed about conveyancing by their conveyancer (not the internet).
I’m sure back in 1982 (when there was no internet) clients would not involve themselves in reading books about the conveyancing process and question their Conveyancer/Solicitor on it? It’s too time consuming! Over the past few years I have encountered clients who have read a few pages online about how conveyancing works, then feel the need to question my decisions or inform me how the practice of conveyancing is conducted. Or, who have read a few pages (again online) and then open a can of worms, also known as additional questions, that are in most cases not relevant to their transaction. This adds hours to transactions because good Conveyancers want to give clients all the answers to all the questions they have. The problem with this is that the fixed fee charged when you look at the amount of work/hours/time is often not reflective of the actual time. I speak to Solicitors who remember when conveyancers could charge a percentage of the property (just like estate agents). Gone are those days.
Based on the above, here I would say technology is a hindrance. Although I’m sure clients would think otherwise.
Technology and Estate Agent
Next… The Estate Agent. They should be working closely with the Conveyancer to get the job done as quickly as possible. They are paid a commission on every transaction and effectively should allow the Conveyancers to do the job with little interruption. This approach allows the matter to be completed quicker, yet in some cases there are portals, service level agreements (with estate agents), daily update sites, daily emails, daily phone calls… solely for the agent. I personally don’t understand this. Surely the more hours on these sites/updates = less hours conducting legal work progressing a transaction (which is what the estate agents want)?
This one was short and easy. Hands down hindrance, maybe not for them but technology used in a way to apply pressure to the conveyancer during a transaction is not conducive to its progression or to finding a ‘proper’ legal solution to any problems encountered.
Technology and Conveyancers
Technology for Conveyancers? Benefit! Maybe I’m bias, but I’m looking at technology from the view point that if it increases productivity and gets a quicker result for the client then, it’s a benefit. The use of technology by agents and clients unfortunately in my opinion may slow down the process, depending on how it’s used.
If Conveyancers can use emails to send letters and contracts to other Conveyancers, and Clients can use quote systems to obtain quotes. HM Land Registry is introducing various electronic signature platforms and the much progressed electronic application and registration process. Accounts teams are using electronic payment methods more and cheques less. It seems that technology used in a positive way is definitely a benefit for all parties involved in the conveyancing transaction…
I wonder how technology will affect other areas of law in the future, and how it will continue to keep- conveyancing 1 step ahead of the game.
By Shani Grant – Dawson Cornwell
Kindly shared by Dawson Cornwell
