By Legal Futures Associate InfoTrack
Property law firms have significantly increased their use of technology over the past two years, with the latest Digital Conveyancing Maturity Index (DCMI) revealing a near 10% improvement in digital maturity scores across the sector.
Published today by leading end-to-end conveyancing platform InfoTrack, the biennial report shows the average maturity score climbed from 54.4% in 2024 to 59.8% in 2026, an increase of 5.4 percentage points or 9.9% in relative terms.
The index is widely regarded as a bellwether for how effectively law firms are adopting technology and preparing for the transition to AI.
On the six key areas firms were evaluated on, several improvements were seen. Integration, IT and digital records is now the strongest section at 57.6% (up 3%). New business and onboarding have both improved, reaching 34.1% (up 4%) and 46.8% (up 2%), respectively.
Post-completion remains one of the stronger areas of maturity, with particular growth in integrated AP1 submissions up from 37% in 2024 to 51% this year.
New to the Index for 2026 is a section on AI, beginning with an average maturity score of 29.3%, the lowest of the six sections. AI scores vary dramatically: while 85% use at least one kind of AI, only 14% describe it as standard practice and 69% describe its use as individual experimentation. Only 18% have rolled it out across a team, which InfoTrack suggests indicates a lack of a firm-wide AI strategy to move from pilot to standard processes.
The biggest use cases of AI in conveyancing according to the Index were client reports (42%), document analysis (38%), and enquiries (38%). It is clear firms are testing and using AI, particularly where it supports familiar, content-heavy work. InfoTrack says the harder task will be in turning that activity into a controlled, repeatable and measurable way of working.
Sam Jordan, Chief Operating Officer at InfoTrack UK, says, “We’re in an AI contradiction. AI use is widespread. Governed, firm-wide adoption is not. Content tasks are the most common named AI uses because outputs are visible and can be professionally reviewed, but critical risk assessment and triage remain much less common. The opportunity now is to apply the same discipline to use cases with measurable operational value, such as identifying missing information, surfacing exceptions, or supporting deadline management. The value is not an isolated faster answer. It is less repetitive reading, clearer exceptions and more time for professional judgement. AI and technology adoption is continuing, but not at the same speed as the market’s expanding capability.”
Other findings in the Digital Conveyancing Maturity Index 2026 include;
Pre-completion is the most digitally immature transaction stage requiring human oversight. 70% of respondents share documents by email, 65% manage deadlines manually or in spreadsheets, and 81% rely on manual risk review or double-checking. Pre-Completion’s Digital Maturity Score in 2026 is 35.3% (down 2%), however, the benchmark here has changed the most as technology has advanced.
However, post-completion is showing tangible progress – 44% of respondents report integrated SDLT submission, compared with 40% in 2024.
Digital adoption across new business and client communications remains limited. With a low average digital maturity score of 34.1%, around a third of firms (32%) use personalised quote builders, but nearly half (47%) still provide pricing by phone or email, and most (57%) manage inbound enquiries by phone or email.
Digital onboarding is now well-established, but fragmented. 89% of respondents use digital identity verification, nearly three-quarters (74%) use a digital source of funds process and over two-thirds (68%) complete transaction forms digitally. However, 71% of firms still use phone, email or post for onboarding communication, and two-thirds (66%) use manual calls to verify recipient account details.
A shared workflow is the missing layer. Only 16% of respondents use a solution that sends and receives documents and saves them back to the CMS. Half (50%) manage enquiries through post or email, and only 15% use a shared workspace that links both sides. 82% still log into lender-panel platforms directly to upload documents and updates.
The firms scoring highest
The Index this year suggests a significant shift in the profile of the sector’s most digitally mature firms. In 2024, practices with between one and 25 employees accounted for more than half of the top-performing cohort, indicating that smaller teams often adopted new technologies and ways of working more quickly thanks to streamlined decision-making. By 2026, however, it is now mid-sized firms emerging as the dominant force, with practices employing between 26 and 199 people making up two-thirds of the leading cohort, while the share of smaller firms fell to 25%.
Sam explains, “The change suggests that many mid-sized firms have successfully closed the digital maturity gap, overcoming the coordination challenges often associated with larger teams to accelerate technology adoption and transformation. This does not mean that size guarantees maturity. The shift appears to be less about access to technology and more about whether firms can embed it consistently across the organisation.”
The results also highlight where leading firms are pulling ahead. North-West law firm Bell Lamb & Joynson achieved the highest overall score for a second consecutive edition, with a digital maturity score of 94.5%, with second and third place going to Thomas Flavell & Sons and The Partnership, respectively [Table 1].
| Rank | Firm | Maturity |
| 1 | Bell Lamb & Joynson | 94.5% |
| 2 | Thomas Flavell & Sons | 88.3% |
| 3 | The Partnership | 82.1% |
| 4 | Lucas & Wyllys | 81.4% |
| 5 | HB Property Legal Ltd | 79.3% |
| 6 | Jackson West Solicitors | 77.9% |
| 6 | Dutton Gregory Solicitors | 77.9% |
| 8 | Eden Conveyancing | 77.2% |
| 9 | Howard & Co Solicitors LLP | 76.6% |
| 10 | Morecrofts LLP | 75.2% |
| 10 | HPLC Conveyancing Ltd | 75.2% |
| 10 | Best Solicitors | 75.2% |
| 13 | Knights | 73.8% |
| 13 | Philips Law | 73.8% |
| 13 | BHB Law | 73.8% |
Table 1. Top 10 law firms scoring highest in this year’s DCMI. Some firms are tied, so 15 firms appear across the top ten ranking positions.
Bruce Griffin, Founder and CEO of Eden Conveyancing, which ranked seventh in the Index, says: “Even though the industry-wide digital maturity score remains fairly flat, those scores represent a much higher digital benchmark than a year ago. Clients now expect the same level of digital experience from their conveyancer as they do online banking or online shopping, and the government and regulators have set a clear roadmap for digital conveyancing.”
Richard Wollacott from law firm Knights, which ranked amongst the top ten firms, says: “The profession is moving at two very different speeds. Some firms are embedding technology and AI into their everyday processes, while many others are still relying on paper files and paper identification. Those firms will increasingly be overtaken by businesses that can onboard a client, issue a contract pack or review a lease and title in seconds.”
You can view the Report in full here.
