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 reduce delay and improve consumer outcomes. David designed MJP’s case management system in 2011 and continues to develop practical, compliance-led approaches that strengthen due diligence, improve transparency and support smoother completions. He is also committed to mentoring and raising competency standards across the profession.
What was your career path to your current role?
I began my legal career in litigation, working across family law and personal injury, and also undertaking matters in employment and sports law. Litigation provided a rigorous grounding in advocacy, evidence, procedure and client management. It teaches discipline very quickly: preparation matters, detail matters, and strategy matters.
By 2010, however, I became increasingly interested in the structural inefficiencies within property transactions. Conveyancing struck me as an area of law that was procedurally driven, highly process-dependent and therefore particularly suited to technological improvement. I could see that many of the frustrations experienced by clients were not legal problems in the strict sense, but systemic ones. delays, poor information flow, duplication of effort and fragmented communication.
That realisation prompted my move into conveyancing. It felt like an area where genuine reform was possible and where technology, properly deployed, could materially improve both risk management and client experience.
Did you have any other career ambitions?
My ambition has always been less about moving into a different discipline and more about raising standards within the one I practice.
I remain focused on using technology to address endemic delay in the conveyancing process. However, I also believe many of the issues government and regulators seek to tackle transaction times, fall-through rates, consumer dissatisfaction would be significantly mitigated by improving competency levels across the sector.
We need to encourage lawyers entering the profession not to settle for being merely functional. Competence, technical depth and professional ambition should be the norm, not the exception. A more highly skilled cohort of conveyancers would resolve many of the structural issues that policymakers are grappling with.
For me, reform is not just about digital infrastructure, it is about professional standards.
What keeps you motivated in your work?
Teaching and mentoring younger lawyers is a major source of motivation. Watching someone develop from a newly qualified conveyancer into a confident, technically capable practitioner is immensely rewarding. Progression in this field requires resilience, judgment and commercial awareness and helping others build those qualities matters to me.
I am also motivated by problem solving at a systems level. Whether that involves refining workflows within our case management system, improving collaboration with estate agents, or encouraging better integration between technology providers, I enjoy identifying friction points and addressing them constructively.
Conveyancing does not operate in isolation. Greater cross-industry collaboration between lawyers, agents, lenders and technology platforms is essential if we are serious about reform. Driving that conversation forward remains a professional priority.
If you could change one thing about the transaction process, what would it be?
I would fundamentally revisit the doctrine of ‘buyer beware’.
The current system places disproportionate investigative burden on the buyer’s solicitor, often late in the process. A more transparent, seller-led disclosure model where key information is prepared, verified and made available at the outset would materially reduce delay, duplication and dispute.
If sellers were required to present a fully transparent, information-complete position before a property is marketed, transaction times would shorten, fall-through rates would drop, and consumer confidence would increase. Reform in this area would be transformative.
What has been the best development in conveyancing in the last 20 years?
Without question, the development and application of technology.
In 2011, I designed our own case management system at a time when digital transformation in conveyancing was still relatively embryonic. We focused on workflow automation, milestone visibility, data integrity and proactive communication, principles that were not widely embedded in the market at that point.
That system gave us, and continues to give us, a significant commercial and operational edge. More importantly, it demonstrated that technology can enhance rather than dilute professional oversight when implemented intelligently.
Properly designed systems improve consistency, reduce human error, and free lawyers to focus on complex judgement rather than administrative repetition.
And the worst?
Fragmentation.
The market is now saturated with point solutions that do not integrate effectively with one another. Instead of a cohesive digital ecosystem, we often see disconnected platforms requiring manual re-keying of information, creating inefficiency and risk.
True reform requires interoperability and shared standards. Without that, technology risks replicating analogue inefficiencies in digital form.
Do you think conveyancing will ever be fully digitalised?
Artificial intelligence and advanced automation will significantly reshape the profession. Routine elements of title investigation, document review, risk flagging and workflow management will increasingly be AI-assisted.
However, rather than eliminating senior conveyancers, this evolution will change their role. Experienced practitioners will move further towards oversight, risk evaluation, exception handling and strategic client advice. The technical core will remain, but the emphasis will shift from process execution to analytical supervision.
Full digitalisation in a mechanical sense may occur. Full automation of professional judgement will not.
Do you think it should be?
Yes, provided digitalisation is intelligent and standards-driven.
The shift is inevitable. Resistance will only widen the gap between firms that innovate and those that do not. Embracing digital reform early allows practitioners to shape it responsibly rather than react to it.
The objective must be a faster, more transparent and more reliable transaction process, not simply technological novelty.
What’s the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you regarding your career?
Work hard. Prepare thoroughly. Remain professional at all times.
Preparation is the foundation of confidence. In law and particularly in conveyancing, where transactions are inter-dependent and time-sensitive, meticulous preparation prevents crisis management later.
Professionalism, even under pressure, builds long-term reputation. That reputation becomes one of your most valuable assets.
What’s the best piece of advice you’d like to give to someone just starting out?
Do not aim to be an average lawyer.
Master the fundamentals. Understand the underlying principles of title, lender requirements and risk allocation not just the process steps. Develop judgement, not just speed.
Most importantly, look to make your mark on the area in which you practice. Conveyancing is evolving rapidly. Those who combine technical excellence with ambition and innovation will shape its future.
Tell us something people may be surprised to know about you…
Earlier in my career, while practising sports law, I had the opportunity to meet and work with a number of highly respected Premier League football players and managers. One of the highlights of that period was meeting Kevin Keegan, a memorable experience and a reminder that even at the highest levels of professional sport, preparation and professionalism remain the defining traits of success.
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