A benchmark report outlining the digital maturity of conveyancing departments and firms has been published for the third time, with a near 10% improvement in scores across the sector says its authors.
The Digital Conveyancing Maturity Index, published by InfoTrack and launched at the Digital Conveyancing Summit hosted in London, sets out to measure the level of technology adoption and maturity amongst conveyancers. First launched in 2022, the report looks at five key areas of conveyancing; client onboarding, pre-completion, post-completion, new business, and integration and digital records. In 2026 a new sixth section on AI usage and governance has been added.
The average score for firms participating in 2026 was 59.8%. In 2024 that figure was 54.4%. At first glance, explained InfoTrack, it suggests little has changed. However the technology provider said the bar had moved “considerably higher.”
“AI is changing digital conveyancing in two ways. Firms are beginning to use it directly in their day to day work, while technology providers are using it to develop and improve software more quickly. Together, these changes are raising expectations of what effective digital delivery looks like.
“Put simply, a firm that had stood still since 2024 could now score up to 10% lower. Against a moving benchmark, maintaining an average score in the mid-forties is more impressive than the headline alone suggests.”
Top of the pile in 2026 was Bell Lamb & Joynson who retained their title from the 2024 edition. The other big winners in the 2026 edition were mid-sized firms who have been slower to adopt technology compared to smaller firms who prospered in the 2024 edition, but who have now caught up and overtaken them according to InfoTrack.
Previewing the report on the Today’s Conveyancer Podcast earlier this month, Chief Operating Officer Sam Jordan explained the shift is attributed to larger firms implementing integrated, firm-wide platforms which take time to embed and adopt. In 2024, practices with between one and 25 employees accounted for more than half of the top-performing cohort, indicating that smaller teams often adopted new technologies and ways of working more quickly thanks to streamlined decision-making. By 2026 mid-sized firms have emerged as the dominant force, with practices employing between 26 and 199 people making up two-thirds of the leading cohort, while the share of smaller firms fell to 25%.
On the key areas firms were evaluated on, several improvements were seen. Integration, IT and digital records is now the strongest section at 57.6% (up 3%). New business and onboarding have both improved, reaching 34.1% (up 4%) and 46.8% (up 2%), respectively. Post-completion remains one of the stronger areas of maturity, with particular growth in integrated AP1 submissions up from 37% in 2024 to 51% this year.
Pre-completion is the most digitally immature transaction stage requiring human oversight. 70% of respondents share documents by email, 65% manage deadlines manually or in spreadsheets, and 81% rely on manual risk review or double-checking. Pre-Completion’s Digital Maturity Score in 2026 is 35.3% (down 2%), however, the benchmark here has changed the most as technology has advanced. Digital onboarding is now well-established, but fragmented. 89% of respondents use digital identity verification, nearly three-quarters (74%) use a digital source of funds process and over two-thirds (68%) complete transaction forms digitally. However, 71% of firms still use phone, email or post for onboarding communication, and two-thirds (66%) use manual calls to verify recipient account details.
The newly surveyed AI section shines a spotlight on adoption with an average maturity score of 29.3%, the lowest of the six sections. AI scores vary dramatically: while 85% use at least one kind of AI, only 14% describe it as standard practice and 69% describe its use as individual experimentation. Only 18% have rolled it out across a team, which InfoTrack suggests indicates a lack of a firm-wide AI strategy to move from pilot to standard processes.
Commenting on this year’s report Jordan said: “We’re in an AI contradiction. AI use is widespread. Governed, firm-wide adoption is not. Content tasks are the most common named AI uses because outputs are visible and can be professionally reviewed, but critical risk assessment and triage remain much less common. The opportunity now is to apply the same discipline to use cases with measurable operational value, such as identifying missing information, surfacing exceptions, or supporting deadline management. The value is not an isolated faster answer. It is less repetitive reading, clearer exceptions and more time for professional judgement. AI and technology adoption is continuing, but not at the same speed as the market’s expanding capability.”
Top 10 law firms scoring highest in this year’s DCMI. Some firms are tied, so 15 firms appear across the top ten ranking positions.
| Rank | Firm | Maturity |
| 1 | Bell Lamb & Joynson | 94.5% |
| 2 | Thomas Flavell & Sons | 88.3% |
| 3 | The Partnership | 82.1% |
| 4 | Lucas & Wyllys | 81.4% |
| 5 | HB Property Legal Ltd | 79.3% |
| 6 | Jackson West Solicitors | 77.9% |
| 6 | Dutton Gregory Solicitors | 77.9% |
| 8 | Eden Conveyancing | 77.2% |
| 9 | Howard & Co Solicitors LLP | 76.6% |
| 10 | Morecrofts LLP | 75.2% |
| 10 | HPLC Conveyancing Ltd | 75.2% |
| 10 | Best Solicitors | 75.2% |
| 13 | Knights | 73.8% |
| 13 | Philips Law | 73.8% |
| 13 | BHB Law | 73.8% |
3 responses
And to what extent has this “maturity” improved transaction processing timeframes?
Thats the interesting part. The Connels surveys show 2014 average turnaround time of 94 days and in 2025 this was 123 days. Technology is not the soluton if you dont know what the problem is.
Lawyers are cautious.
Adoption is strongly linked with evidence.
Digital maturity must include maturity by law tech providers in the sense they must accept legal responsibility for the data they produce. At the moment this only partially the case.