Kevin Tunnicliffe, CEO of Sort Group is driving a new industry campaign aimed at addressing key issues within the conveyancing sector, to bring a smoother journey for the law firm, intermediary and client, alike.
The inaugural event hosted in Manchester brought together industry figures from a host of conveyancing firms, together with 3 panel managers. The event was an open discussion on the key issues facing the legal sector and how they can work together to solve them.
Topics that were covered during the discussion included standards in conveyancing, training and development, conveyancing as a career, service vs perception, communication, no completion-no fee, legal fees, caseloads, and panel managers.
Since the first meeting there has been a decision to make the ‘Levelling Up’ forum a regular fixture for the industry with events set to take place three times a year.
Speaking about the event, Kevin said:
“The first ‘Levelling Up’ forum marked a pivotal moment for us, bringing together influential figures for an open dialogue on key industry issues in our bid to restore conveyancing to its rightful place in the property transaction and to ensure that buying, selling, or refinancing a property can be as efficient as it should be.
There is a lot going on in the tech space around Conveyancing, with many claiming to have ‘game changing’ solutions, but nobody seems to be addressing the key issues that are at the very core of the industry – low fees, high case loads, over worked conveyancers and the lack of understanding or empathy from large parts of the property sector.
Conveyancing isn’t broken, but the length of time it takes to complete a property purchase is way too long and if things are going to improve, then change has to happen. Upfront information and investment in technology will undoubtedly help, but with such low margins in Conveyancing, the conversation around fees took place and the need to invest in the staff to ensure that they can create a career in Conveyancing without the work stress and regular ear bashings and abuse that they currently get!
Our vision is to expand these discussions to ensure that the whole of the Conveyancing sector is represented and to also involve other experts from across the mortgage and estate agency sectors as well as the surveying industry and hopefully lenders too to foster collaboration and identify opportunities for development to ensure we achieve the art of the possible.”
One Response
More tech won’t help.
What will help is the Regulators enforcing standards of training and qualifications before someone can have a client facing position.