Property
Conveyancing instructions up by a third as completion times fall
Conveyancing instructions rose by almost a third last year, while completion times fell, while seven out of 10 home buyers were more likely to choose a conveyancer that was 100% digital.
Investigation raises doubts about rigour of Law Society’s CQS
Seven in 10 law firms fined for anti-money laundering breaches in recent months have Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation, raising serious questions about how it is checked and enforced.
City partner “erroneously” paid out £2.2m to developer client
A partner at DWF has been fined £14,000 for wrongly approving £2.2m in payments to a developer which later went bust, leaving the firm to recompense out-of-pocket buyers.
Solicitor who worked for three firms at same time struck off
A locum solicitor whose timesheets claimed for the same time from two different firms – while employed full-time at a third – has been struck off.
Property lawyers attack “punitive” AML fining regime
The “punitive” fining regime for anti-money laundering rule breaches operated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority has left lawyers feeling “fearful”.
Land Registry to publish law firms’ “avoidable” requisition rates
HM Land Registry is to publish data this autumn showing the number of avoidable requisitions it has to raise with every conveyancing firm.
Stamp duty deadline pushed conveyancing fees to “all-time high”
Conveyancing fees hit an “all-time high” in the first quarter of this year in the run-up to the stamp duty deadline, with the average figure up by almost 12% on the same period last year.
Conveyancers “should advise on liability from climate risks”
Solicitors should advise clients in property transactions on the potential liability they face from “climate risks”, the Law Society has said in new guidance.
Confusion reigns after property information guidance withdrawn
The withdrawal of the material information guidance for estate agents was met last week with a mixture of confusion, alarm and celebration by lawyers.
Law firm takes assignment of client’s claim after pay out
A law firm that paid out £750,000 to a buyer client over an error on a property transaction has taken assignment of its claim against the seller.
Blog
The new metrics for success in conveyancing
While technology has made much of the conveyancing process faster, there remains a practical limit to how many matters anyone can manage while still keeping standards intact.
The UK legal market is polarising – and the middle is disappearing
Consolidation and the boutique boom are not contradictory. They are the same market stretching apart at both ends – and it changes what your firm is worth, and to whom.
Conveyancing’s consistency problem is about pressure, not skills
When I qualified, a conveyancer had perhaps 10 or 12 plates to keep spinning. Today’s conveyancers have 20 or 30, and almost none of the room for error I had starting out.
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