Redman: Sharing knowledge
A grassroots initiative to reduce the number of unnecessary enquiries which can delay conveyancing transactions has gone live.
Vicki Redman, the prime mover behind GRACE (Guidance for Raising Appropriate Conveyancing Enquiries), said the initiative was an example of conveyancers “creating their own change”.
She said nine top 50 conveyancing firms had trialled and then adopted the guidance: “This is not about anyone telling us what to do. It has not come from the Law Society or the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, or the regulators.
“My document was a starting point – lots of people said it was a good idea. I believe in sharing knowledge, not just with your firm but with everyone.
“I don’t see that conveyancers are working in competition with each other. There is plenty of work out there. The number of conveyancers has gone down by 15%.”
Ms Redman is conveyancing training and knowledge team manager at Swiitch, the conveyancing arm of national law firm Shoosmiths, and developed GRACE with the help of 35 other conveyancers.
She said the idea came from the need to train junior staff as conveyancers because of the difficulty in recruiting people who were already qualified.
A document was created to help with internal staff training on pre-contract enquiries and Ms Redman then saw a thread on a Bold Legal Group forum last year with “hundreds” of entries about the poor quality of enquiries.
Many of the enquiries mentioned were “things our team would not raise”, such as duplicating questions already raised on conveyancing forms, or failing to take into account changes in the law or in case law.
Ms Redman said that some conveyancers were raising enquiries “even before they’ve seen the draft contract”, some of them standard enquiries which often began with the word “if”.
She said the project needed a “wide range of opinions” and comments from some of the conveyancers who did not agree with her led to the creation of two categories in the guidance – one for enquiries that practitioners should never raise and one for enquiries they might need to raise where necessary.
Ms Redman said it would need to be updated, particularly after the Law Society introduced the new TA6 form in October.
Rob Hailstone, chief executive and founder of the Bold Legal Group, which hosts the from, said conveyancing was “a lot more challenging” than it had once been, with “so many more issues” for conveyancers to advise on.
“Add to that a growing shortage of experienced conveyancers and lack of new recruits and you have a capacity and transaction time problem.
“Anything that can help lighten the conveyancers load should therefore be welcomed, and that includes professional guidance when it comes to raising enquiries.
“However, GRACE is not a dumbing-down document – it is perhaps more like the Highway Code, which is there for new drivers and experienced drivers alike.
“We all think we are good drivers, and that we are aware of the current motoring rules, but are we? Do we, or should at least some of us, refer to the Highway Code once in a while?”
