National law firm Dutton Gregory Solicitors has called upon conveyancing firms to prioritise investing in their people to speed up transactions.
The firm – which claims to have a transaction timeline “well below the industry average for conveyancing” – argues that investment in people is more important than additional technology enhancements.
They claim that, while the industry average is currently 61 days, a new-build transaction handled by Dutton Gregory from contract to exchange typically takes 25 days.
“We recognise the importance of new technology to expedite property conveyancing, but ultimately the level of service is down to people,” said Paul Sams, Head of Property at Dutton Gregory Solicitors. He added:
“Property is a people-led industry, which is why the investment we make in our staff is well beyond that of a high street solicitor. Each of our divisions is headed by a national specialist, most of whom are also published authors and industry spokespeople.”
Dutton Gregory said they have been on a recruitment drive and also noted their internal training programme, new office launches, and mergers in recent times.
However, the firm did say it is also trialling various new industry-specific software, integrating it into the conveyancing processes handled across its network of national offices, to move to a mainly digital service. Paul Sams added:
“The latest technology can make processes quicker and more efficient both for our employees and customers, but it’s our highly qualified legal professionals that are responsible for our average conveyancing timescales being half that of other firms…
…As an industry, we need to do more to make the conveyancing process much more efficient, as the average transaction time rose by around a third in recent years, due to the impact of Covid. 2023 needs to be the year the average time comes right back down. Whilst technology is key to this, it is ‘all about the people’.”
One Response
Can we please have data from them for the number and/or percentage of newbuilds they acted on;
Not involving any chain.
At the end of a chain.
If this bunch have for example specialised in FTB new home purchases then unless they can repeat the trick when their client is fifth in a chain of six then their professed skillsets don’t mean diddly.
If they have indeed re-mastered conveyancing then by gum, give them the keys to the kingdom.