Property
Australian giant eyes further expansion in UK conveyancing market
PEXA, the Australian conveyancing technology giant that last year bought a UK law firm, could expand its operation here yet further by acquiring listed company Smoove, which also owns one.
All-digital trial sounds death knell for paper-based conveyancing
A project to build a digital settlement prototype that speeds up payments in conveyancing by linking banks, conveyancers and HM Land Registry has ended successfully.
Partner suspended for trying to “trick” farmer out of tenancy
A partner in a large Midlands law firm, who tried to “trick” an elderly farmer out of part of his protected tenancy in the way he sent notices to quit, has been suspended for a year.
Home sellers “would pay more for faster conveyancing”
Almost nine in 10 vendors would pay more to have a faster conveyancing process, new research has revealed. as we report too on the latest BASPI iteration and proptech investment.
High Court: Losses too remote for claim against law firm
A law firm has successfully fought off a former client’s bid to broaden a multi-million-pound negligence claim after the High Court found the losses too remote to be recoverable.
Reserved activities set to stay as they are for now
A full review of the reserved legal activities is not justified at the moment without a “fundamental” reappraisal of the Legal Services Act too, the Legal Services Board has concluded.
Conveyancers fined £33,000 for complaints and accounts breaches
A large firm of licensed conveyancers and its senior partners have been reprimanded and fined £33,000 after a Covid-related work surge overwhelmed its ability to handle complaints.
Negligence claim over law firm’s ground rent advice dismissed
A circuit judge has dismissed a negligence claim over a London law firm’s alleged failure to give a client proper advice on a how much the ground rent would increase under a lease.
“Manifestly incompetent” solicitor missed red flags on dubious deals
An experienced solicitor who failed to react to a series of red flags on two dubious property sales has admitted to being manifestly incompetent. He and his supervisor were fined.
ChatGPT fails solicitor’s conveyancing test
AI chatbot ChatGPT has a “long way to go” before it replaces conveyancers, according to the head of property at a regional law firm who quizzed it about first-time buyers.
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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