Conveyancing appointments round-up
The onset of spring has seen a series of announcements from law firms and tech companies sharing details of new conveyancing hires and promotions. Switalskis has appointed four solicitors (main pic) to its residential conveyancing team, including two directors, adding further property expertise to its Wakefield, Bradford, Sheffield and Grimsby offices. Ed Atkin (pictured far […]
Lawfront adds Reading-based Field Seymour Parkes to portfolio
Private equity backed consolidator Lawfront has announced the acquisition of Reading based Field Seymour Parkes, taking the total number of firms under its ‘regional leaders’ banner to seven. Field Seymour Parkes joins regional firms Farleys, Fisher Jones Greenwood, Nelsons, Slater Heelis, Brachers and Trethowans as the Blixt-backed Lawfront continues to add to its growing […]
LSB confirms Richard Blakeway as chair of Office for Legal Complaints
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has confirmed the appointment of Richard Blakeway to the post of chair of the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) after an open competition. The appointment follows Blakeway’s appearance before the Justice Select Committee for pre-appointment scrutiny last month, and has been approved by Sarah Sackman, the minister of state for […]
Movera, ONP Solicitors and Steele Raymond celebrate growth
Movera and Steele Raymond are entering the new financial year in strong positions, with the trio of businesses celebrating growth, acquisitions and expansions this week. Home moving brand Movera reported a 33% year-on-year increase in sale and purchase completions across its conveyancing firms, ONP Solicitors and Cavendish, in 2025. To support its growth aspirations, Movera brought in […]
Mazur overturned: Legal sector reacts
Law firms and practitioners have responded to the Court of Appeal’s decision to overturn the decision in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys, which limited the extent to which legal executives and paralegals can conduct litigation. Following the Court of Appeal’s judgment, CILEx Regulation said its priority would be to support those who had been affected […]
Profile: Joy Hagelthorn, senior product manager at e4 Strategic UK
Joy Hagelthorn is a senior product manager with more than 17 years’ experience in digital innovation. For the past three years, she has focused exclusively on UK conveyancing and lender technology, working closely across product design and software delivery. Her work is centred on reducing friction in the UK conveyancing process by developing intuitive, modern […]
Three hours a day spent on non-billable tasks, report finds
UK legal professionals spend nearly three hours a day on non-billable tasks, according to a new industry report. Profitability in Law: Global Report 2026, commissioned by LEAP Legal Software, surveyed around 700 legal professionals across six countries and found the equivalent of 88 full working days (17.5 weeks) a year are not charged for. Despite […]
Profile: Rachel Byles, residential property associate at Knights
Rachel Byles is an associate with over 20 years of extensive experience across all aspects of residential property. Her expertise includes freehold and leasehold sales and purchases, new build transactions, remortgages, probate sales, traditional and modern auction sales and purchases, buy to let investments and matrimonial transfers. She prides herself on delivering a proactive, efficient […]
Profile: Ryan Hannah, CEO of Compass
Ryan Hannah is the founder and CEO of Compass, the UK’s only fully indemnified SDLT assessment and calculation platform. He built Compass to address systemic inaccuracy in Stamp Duty Land Tax, ensuring purchasers pay exactly what they owe under the law, no more and no less. What was your career path to your current role? […]
SRA pays out £9m to ‘most urgent’ PM Law transactions after receiving 250 applications to compensation fund
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has provided £9 million in compensation to clients of PM Law, which closed unexpectedly at the start of February. The money has been largely used to facilitate property transactions which have been delayed as a result of the closure of the Sheffield law firm and its 20-plus affiliate firms. The […]
CILEX calls for more opportunities to diversify access to the legal profession
Legal regulators are not doing enough to open up the flexible pathways into a legal career that are needed to improve diversity in the sector, the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX) says. The comments were made in response to the Legal Services Board’s (LSB) consultation on its draft policy statement on encouraging a diverse […]
Profile: Gethin Lloyd, residential property partner at Knights
Gethin Lloyd is a partner in the residential property team at Knights, having joined the firm in 2014 to start the residential property department in the Chester Office. His focus is service, communication and speed. If a client wants to get a transaction done quickly, he will do everything he can to achieve that. He […]
Legal group AIIC passes 1,000 consultants as platform business continues to grow
AIIC Group, the legal platform business behind law firms Taylor Rose, FDR Law and Kingsley Wood, had 1,009 fee-earning legal consultants operating across its brands at the end of 2025, according to figures released by the company. The total number of individuals working under AIIC’s consultancy programme stood at 1,485 at the end of 2025, […]
Ward Hadaway strengthens team with 44 new appointments
Top 100 UK law firm Ward Hadaway has appointed 44 new legal specialists across the north of England over the last five months. The new starters include partners, directors, managing associates, trainee solicitors and paralegals, which the firm says is “strengthening teams at multiple levels of the business and supporting sustained client demand across core […]
New property appointments at Anthony Collins and Rowlinsons
Birmingham social purpose law firm Anthony Collins has appointed two legal directors and two senior associates, and in Cheshire, Rowlinsons Solicitors has appointed “widely known” Tim Jordan as a consultant solicitor, adding 40 years of legal experience to its property team. Kelly McDonnell joins the team at Anthony Collins as legal director and head of […]
Proptech firm Coadjute appoints Phil Spencer as ambassador in fight against money laundering
Proptech firm Coadjute has appointed property broadcaster Phil Spencer as an ambassador to help bring attention to the risks of money laundering. Coadjute, which provides a digital platform from property transaction workflows, says it has made a “major strategic shift” towards anti-money laundering compliance, and has positioned the fight against financial crime at the heart […]
Referral scheme aims to put clients in touch with non-UK legal professionals
A new referral scheme aims to provide lawyers with access to vetted expertise in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The scheme – known as J-Law – has been launched by Judicare Law International, a UK-based, SRA-regulated law firm. The model is similar to that used by Connect2Law, the popular referral scheme launched by Simon […]
Profile: Kevin Tunnicliffe, CEO and founder of Sort Group
Kev Tunnicliffe is CEO and founder of Sort Group (SortRefer and Sort Legal), a technology led property services provider focused on improving the home moving journey for brokers, conveyancers and consumers. With more than 35 years in the property industry, Kev launched SortRefer in 2009 to bring better collaboration, data and technology to the conveyancing […]
Profile: David Pett, solicitor and director of MJP Conveyancing
David Pett is a director and solicitor at MJP Conveyancing, specialising in residential property transactions with a particular focus on risk, compliance and process efficiency. After starting his legal career in litigation across family, personal injury, employment and sports law, he moved into conveyancing in 2010, recognising it as an area where technology could meaningfully […]
Property Deals Insight signs up to OPDA
Property data platform Property Deals Insight has become the latest member of the Open Property Data Association (OPDA). Founded in 2019, Property Deals Insight was created to tackle “fragmented, inconsistent and hard-to-access data”, which they describe as one of the property market’s most persistent challenges. The platform brings together trusted data from across the property ecosystem […]