By Today's Conveyancer
The podcast currently has 91 episodes available.
A collaboration between conveyancing firm Simply Conveyancing and property technology business Orbital Witness is the topic of discussion in the latest Today's Conveyancer podcast .
Host David Opie is joined by Sue Bence, Chief Operating Officer at Simply Conveyancing, and Ed Boulle, co-founder of Orbital Witness to discuss the introduction of Orbital's title checking software, which uses large language model artificial intelligence to support and speed up the title investigation process.
The offering is currently aimed at leasehold transactions where it first digitises the documents before they are fed into the engine developed by Orbital Witness, which incorporates elements of AI, to answer standard form questions within a minute.
It's not a replacement for a conveyancer, says Ed Boulle, rather it significantly reduces the time it takes to triage a new matter; uncover any issues and roadblocks; enables you to communicate those with the client; allocate the most appropriate fee earner to the case; and importantly introduce greater consistency to the process.
The discussion outlines some of the process and metrics Simply Conveyancing used as part of its initial pilot to understand the potential impact on efficiency and quality improvement for the firm. Sue tackles the benefits of early identification of complex cases and issues, better and more consistent way of reporting, and the costs associated with pilots like this. There has to be a clear cost/benefit analysis and she encourages firms to look at capacity, time and productivity opportunities available to conveyancers.
Sue also explores the response of the staff which ranged from welcoming through to scepticism; and discusses how Simply identified change agents in their business who helped smoothe the transition and support the introduction of new technology. Far from replacing the skills of the conveyancer, the idea here is very much to support them, says Sue.
The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views.
Do conveyancers get the credit they perhaps deserve for the progress they have made in adopting technology and new processes? Do they come under pressure to adopt change and technology and how can we improve the way we introduce process and change management in our businesses and bring people along with us on that journey?
How can we ensure our staff are both technically competent, and have the soft skills required for the role; conveyancing is an increasingly multi-faceted role with technology, legal expertise, stakeholder management, client experience and customer service skills all critical to an individual's success.
All topics of conversation in the latest Today's Conveyancer Podcast with guest Gemma Fulbrook-Felstead, Operations Director at Collaborative Conveyancing. The discussion explores the challenges of change management and introducing new technologies and processes, encouraging firms to visualise what the short, medium and long term impact of change could be. Gemma also discusses how we can support people with individuality and flair within process driven roles.
And on the topic of change management Gemma draws on her experience working in management consultancy in getting firms to draw out of staff their fears and concerns around change and drilling into the "why" of change so people can understand and challenge it.
But firms must also be cautious of process and technology change; conveyancers use an average of 3.7 technology systems in their roles and as Gemma says, what we don't want is to introduce changes that end up creating barriers, or clash... we need them to be cohesive and seamless.
The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views.
Nicola Ashley and Nicola Davies are former conveyancers and now founders of outsourced title investigation service N Title. They join podcast host David Opie on this latest Today's Conveyancer podcast to discuss their journey over the past 4 years, as well as exploring the opportunities outsourcing provides firms to flex up and down without adding significant overhead.
By their own admission the business model has pivoted in the time they have been in business. Having set up anticipating they would be running an overflow service for the majority of their clients, they are now an integrated part of firms' processes up and down the country.
Nicola and Nicola explain how firms adapt their processes depending on the nature of the title, with increasingly complex investigations now being sent to them, instead of being dealt with in house. They are also engaged to cover holidays and staff absence.
As a result of their expertise they are often called upon to provide training, and say their reports can be used as training tools. On the topic of enquiries they are clear; they will raise only relevant and necessary enquiries, borne out of the experience of their team.
With a fragile market, and uncertainty around transaction volumes, especially with the upcoming election, there is merit, they say, in looking at employment vs outsourcing models and considering what works best for the law firm of the future.
The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views.
In a discussion which will no doubt elicit cries of empathy and a collective nod from compliance teams in law firms up and down the country, Lucy Batten joins the latest Today's Conveyancer Podcast to discuss her role as Executive Director and Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) at Gloucestershire-based Montpellier Legal. Her role encompasses oversight of the full gamut of compliance and regulatory requirements placed on the modern law firm and she fulfils the role of Money Laundering Compliance Officer (MLCO) and Senior Reporting Officer (SRO) for the CQS regime.
In a wide-ranging discussion on the extent of the role, the importance of empowerment and training, and the practicalities of keeping a team on the straight and narrow, Lucy articulates the challenges she faces, and the tools she adopts to ensure the firm remains compliant.
Lucy also goes into detail about a recent SRA AML audit the firm was the subject of; providing some insight into the expectations of the audit, and the firm's take-aways and learnings from the inspection. Critical, says Lucy, is the level of detail in firm's Practice Wide Risk Assessment (PWRA); it is also important that all staff understand the policies and procedures in place as they will be interviewed.
Lucy moves on the discuss the importance of training and explaining to staff why we do what, which will embed the learning and understanding. She reminds us of why we conduct money laundering checks; to protect the firm and more importantly, to protect the public. It cannot be seen as a tick-box exercise, says Lucy, and demonstrates the need for firms to dedicate more resource to compliance roles and responsibilities.
The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views.
In this specially recorded podcast, the Today's Conveyancer podcast joins forces with its sister podcasts from the Today's Wills and Probate and Today's Family Lawyer online news publications to discuss the topic of mental health and wellbeing ahead of Mental Health Awareness Week, from 13th May 2024.
Podcast host David Opie welcomes Legal Director at Convey Law Laura Burkinshaw, Michael Culver (Culver Law) and Marc Etherington (Rayden Solicitors) to discuss the mental health and wellbeing of those working across residential conveyancing, private client and family law. The three guests identify some shared, and unique, challenges they face in their own roles, and discuss their own experiences of dealing with their mental health and wellbeing.
What is clear from the discussion is that legal services is taking mental health and wellbeing much more seriously than it ever has; with firms taking a more proactive approach to support for staff.
The podcast moves on to explore a range of skills and tools we can employ in our own mental health and wellbeing journeys to cope with the stresses and strains of modern legal life; with some fantastic ideas shared to help people exercise their bodies and minds, cope and deal with their roles, and get into what is described as their "flow state"; the experience of being so absorbed by an engaging, enjoyable task that your attention is completely held by it.
The podcast is being published as part of Mental Health Awareness Week 2024. The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views.
In this latest episode of the Today's Conveyancer Podcast host David Opie discusses the challenges firms face with the Building Safety Act (BSA). Liz Ramsden and Hannah Page, Senior Associate and Associate respectively at law firm Knights who have immersed themselves in all things Building Safety Act and now act on behalf of Knights in matters where the BSA applies; and have also worked with other conveyancing and property law firms to support them.
Liz and Hannah explore what the key issues are, not least of which is whether the property actually comes under the scope of the act. It is, says Liz, a hugely complex piece of legislation. Every property is different and each transaction must be taken on its own merits. It can also be difficult to establish where liability sits with regards the landlord or developer.
Hannah concurs, adding that even determining the height of the building is a critical element that conveyancers should be seeking external advise on from surveyors.It is also common for leaseholder deed of certificates and and landlord certificates to be incorrectly completed; and some lenders won't lend on non-qualifying leases
The list of woes continues; the BSA is open to interpretation and getting it wrong could have catastrophic consequences for individuals and firms, Advice in many cases is to obtain guidance from counsel but this tends to increase costs.
What is apparent is the attitude of professional indemnity insurers toward transactions involving the BSA, which has been understandably risk-averse. Knights have actively engaged to demonstrate expertise, procedures, policies, disclaimers, enquiries and retainers which have been agreed between the firm and PI insurers to enable them to do their work on BSA. Critically, they have been clear on what they will, and will not, undertake as part of their work.
This wide ranging discussion explores the challenges presented by BSA, the interim updates which make the act more workable, and some practical advice on how firms can address BSA related issues with transactions.
The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views.
Joining the latest Today's Conveyancer Podcast is Dan Temple, an expert in acknowledging and understanding the human impact of working, and managing employees and businesses. The discussion centres on creating effective and high performing teams, and what steps law firms can, and should, be taking to enable this in their business.
Dan leads Cobalt Human Solutions, a training consultancy which focuses on creating effective teams, drawn from his own experiences in the Royal Air Force as part of the Chinook helicopter crew.
The podcast discusses how creating high performing teams requires a number of key elements. Dan describes how trust and accountability are paramount.
Ultimately, says Dan, the environment and culture of the workplace is where the success and failure of organisations is derived. He suggests that one of the key failings he identifies in many businesses is a blame culture; the inability of staff to be open, honest and appropriately challenge - what Dan describes as a "just culture." Staff are fearful of doing something wrong, rather than challenging management.
As well as root cause analysis, Dan encourages organisations to conduct "pre-mortems" - the idea being that you spend time identifying potential pitfalls in a plan and anticipate how you might deal with them should they arise.
And if you ever wanted to understand how the difference between egg mayonnaise and aircraft is relevant to leadership and management, listen in to this insightful and entertaining discussion.
The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views.
Host David Opie is joined by Landmark Estate Agency Services MD Ben Robinson, and Ochresoft MD Rob Gurney for this short review of the latest Property Trends Report, covering January to March 2024.
Covering listings, sold-subject-to-contract, search ordering and completions, the data provides insight into the current market conditions, and provides an indicator for what we might expect in the coming months.
Listen in for expert insight and discussion on the latest stats from across the property market.
The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views.
What are digital property logbooks, and why are they important to the future of property transactions? To answer these questions, and more, the Today's Conveyancer podcast welcomes on Nigel Walley; founder and CEO of property logbook company Chimni, and Chair of the Residential Logbook Association.
Nigel explains what the key differences between logbooks and Google Docs or Dropbox, for example; how should data providers share their data with property logbooks; and what role does the homeowner have in ensuring the data remains up to date and relevant.
Property logbooks have been touted as a home for the material and up front information professionals are increasingly being encouraged to collate at the point a property is listed for market but, as Nigel explains, they are currently working with a number of law firms to introduce logbooks toward the end of the transaction as a home for all the documents collated through the course of a transaction, and as part of a secure handover from seller to buyer for home tech like alarms, smart heating systems and other sometimes looked over assets.
Nigel suggests that there is still a huge amount of work to be around the digitisation of the conveyancing transaction; rather than look at how we can turn what we currently do digital, we should be asking in a world where consumers are taking up all these digital services, what could a property transaction look like.
The discussion finishes with an exploration of what the Residential Logbook Association is, how it came about, and what its plans are for future regulation and innovation of the digital property logbook. If you ever wanted to know the ins and outs of the opportunity now, and in the future, listen in to this insightful discussion.
The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views.
Compliance business boss Tim Barnett joins the latest Today's Conveyancer Podcast to discuss the work being done to improve the process, and experience for consumers, of anti-money laundering, customer due diligence and know your client verification.
As CEO of ID and AML verification business Credas, Tim is well aware of the challenges this presents to firms and suppliers and reminds us about the SRA's warning notice at the end of 2023 which highlighted that up to 70% of firms were not fully compliance with anti-money laundering processes and procedures. And while he has sympathy with the idea that the burden of AML compliance falls heavily on conveyancers, he also points out the wider economic and societal role conveyancers and the wider property profession play in maintaining crime-free transactions. But he does acknowledge the administrative burden placed on the profession by legislation; something he and Credas are working hard to reduce.
He also provides some compliance pointers on how firms can ensure they remain the right side of AML compliance; warning that if firms are reliant upon ID document verification by email, or are not regularly re-running client verification checks, they will almost certainly not be compliant.
Credas are, like many organisations, looking at ways to harness artificial intelligence, but, warns Tim, they are now regularly coming up against documentation and supposed evidence submitted through their systems as part of AML verification, that has been created by AI; for the purposes of fraud and deception.
The discussion moves on to explore the work being done by government to introduce a legislative framework to enable the sharing of ID verification and client due diligence throughout the transaction; research conducted by Credas has identified a consumer will have to verify their identity 5.4 times during a typical housing transaction. The Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF) creates the legislative environment to share this data, and provides a standard for digital identity providers to adhere to, to ensure their checks and reports can be relied upon.
The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views.
The podcast currently has 91 episodes available.