How smaller conveyancing firms are gaining an unexpected edge with AI
Dimple Rama from property tech company Orbital says AI can help conveyancers gain a competitive advantage – but before you invest in new technology, you have to know what you want it to do. Consolidation is reshaping residential conveyancing. Larger, volume-led firms are growing their market share, transaction numbers are up and smaller firms […]
Operational drag: The hidden barrier between law firms and sustainable growth
Damian Reed, head of brand and marketing at QualitySolicitors, explains how firms can use AI as an administration asset to improve margins and enhance reputation, rather than view the technology as a problem to be dealt with. There is a peculiar tension sitting at the heart of many independent law firms right now. Revenue […]
Most firms are buying AI: Here’s what you should be investing in instead
Ed Molyneux argued last week that two AI shifts have compressed the Open Property Coalition’s roadmap. This week he sets out the four-layer stack a conveyancing firm actually needs to take advantage of those shifts, and why most firms are buying the wrong layer first. If last week’s column persuaded you that the agentic […]
The Open Property Coalition’s roadmap is right: Two things to do this quarter
Ed Molyneux has been arguing that AI in property has a data problem, not a capability problem. Now that CFIT’s Open Property Coalition Roadmap 2026 is published, he reminds us where to ‘skate’ – and offers two specific actions every practice should take this quarter. Canadian ice-hockey legend Wayne Gretzky’s most quoted line is: “You […]
Confessions of a cyber conveyancer: ‘Forget doing the law – you need to learn how to prompt AI’
As lawyers continue to be bombarded with messages urging them to embrace AI, Today’s Conveyancer columnist Peter Ambrose says it’s time to get on board – but strictly on your own terms. As a property lawyer, you will be used to people assuming you have superpowers that transcend mere mortals. Your crystal ball-gazing skills […]
Two things are quietly slotting into place that will change how conveyancing gets done within 18 months
Every major AI company in the world has agreed on a single way for AI agents to connect to external data, and Microsoft has already shipped it in Teams. Meanwhile, the UK property industry has been building its own open data standard, now live with Lloyds, Connells and LMS. Ed Molyneux explains why these two […]
Are you invisible to AI? What law firms need to know about the new client journey
AI results have replaced the front page of Google in the quest for online visibility. Damian Reed, head of brand and marketing at QualitySolicitors, explains how to get noticed. Something is changing in the way people find a solicitor and most firms haven’t noticed yet. Not long ago, a potential client looking for legal […]
Strategic adoption of AI is a question of ‘how’ not ‘if’ for law firm leaders
Research repeatedly points to the adoption of AI in the legal sector as no longer being an optional extra, but a strategic priority. Today’s Conveyancer editor Juliet Shaw takes a look at the latest reports and what they mean for law firm leaders. Leadership responses to the rapid development of AI in the legal […]
We tested AI on 43 conveyancing scenarios. The results surprised us.
Moverly has added two new open-source AI skills to its conveyancing toolkit – a title defect analyser that reads Land Registry PDFs and a restrictive covenant advisor – and built a free online demo so you can see for yourself. Ed Molyneux on what worked, what did not, and what the profession should build next. […]
FCA welcomes second cohort of AI-powered solutions for real world testing
As part of efforts to develop AI-powered fintech, the Financial Conduct Authority has announced its second cohort of organisations chosen to live test AI applications and “explore key questions around risk management and live monitoring to support the responsible deployment of AI for consumers and markets”. Eight new firms, including Coadjute, Barclays, Experian, Lloyds Banking […]
Which lender will actually lend on your client’s property?
In the latest article in his series on AI in conveyancing, Ed Molyneux puts a practical example in front of the profession and invites them to test it themselves. I have spent the past month writing about what AI can and cannot do for conveyancers. Provenance. The judgment line. The difference between intelligence work and […]
Confessions of a cyber conveyancer – ‘The answer is marginal gains – Dave said so’
When it comes to implementing AI in the residential transaction process, there’s no need to re-invent the wheel, Cyber Conveyancer Peter Ambrose explains. Taking small steps to improve what already works will eventually result in a giant technology leap for conveyancing. It’s a good job ChatGPT wasn’t around in 1969, otherwise when Neil Armstrong […]
Why conveyancing needs a shared system of record
Residential property transactions still run on fragmented documents, duplicated updates and too many competing versions of the truth. The next step forward is not just better workflow, but a trusted shared data foundation that can support clearer collaboration, better judgement and more useful AI. Conveyancing has a truth problem. Not because people are careless or […]
The judgment line
In the fourth of his weekly series, Ed Molyneux introduces the concept that should shape how every conveyancing firm thinks about AI: the judgment line, and which side of it your work falls on. Over the past three weeks I have written about what AI can do, where it fails, and why provenance is the […]
Transforming local land charges migrations with AI
The development of an AI (artificial intelligence) tool by HM Land Registry’s Local Land Charges Programme is dramatically accelerating and enhancing the migration of local authority local land charges records. HMLR lead data scientist Ibad Kureshi explains how. Local authorities across England and Wales hold millions of local land charges records in electronic, paper and […]
Why ‘AI says so’ isn’t good enough
In the third of his weekly series, Ed Molyneux explains why provenance – knowing where data came from and how conclusions were reached – is the difference between AI that helps your practice and AI that threatens it. Last week I wrote about where AI excels and where it fails in conveyancing. The response […]
What AI can and can’t do with your case files
In the second of his weekly series, Ed Molyneux gets specific about where AI excels and where it fails in conveyancing — and why understanding the difference is the key to using it safely. Last week I introduced the “jagged frontier” of AI capability; the idea that these systems are superhuman at some tasks and […]
The age of the AI agent: A conveyancer’s guide to what’s coming
AI agents are arriving in property transactions. Not chatbots, but autonomous systems that complete tasks across every participant in the chain. In the first of a weekly series, Ed Molyneux explains why the technology’s ‘jagged frontier’ of capability means the real challenge isn’t intelligence – it’s architecture. A few days ago, a clip went […]
Confessions of a cyber conveyancer – ‘Machines will never take the place of lawyers’
Attend any conference, trade show or CPD training session and it will only be a matter of time before someone trots out the phrase, “AI will not replace lawyers, it will be lawyers using AI who replace those who do not”. It’s usually accompanied by an irritating side-tilt of the head and a sympathetic look […]
Legal Eye urges law firms to strengthen their AI governance following landmark High Court warning
Legal Eye – a leading provider of risk and compliance solutions – is highlighting the heightened need for robust AI governance within law firms following the Divisional Court’s recent judgment in Ayinde v London Borough of Haringey and Al-Haroun v Qatar National Bank [2025] EWHC 1383 (Admin). In a strongly worded decision, the court criticised […]