The past 12 months have seen massive changes in ways of working for all of us, not least in the conveyancing market. The Solicitors Regulation Authority chair Anna Bradley, speaking at the SRA compliance conference in November 2020 commented on this: ‘People think of the legal sector as stuffy and old-fashioned and slow when actually, the sector and all the attendant bodies like ourselves have responded fast and shown themselves to be flexible – we should all be proud of that. ‘I think we need to stay that way. I really hope people don’t wake up [at the end of the pandemic] and say ‘right we can go back to the old way now’. That would be a travesty – we have been through such a difficult time and we really need to bag the benefits we’ve achieved and frankly, we need to keep the pace of change up.’
Rapid change has been made, in part, due to the majority of office workers having to work from home, with many having not been back to the office in over 9 months. The LexisNexis Bellweather Report in July detailed that on the whole people were welcoming the new remote working. However, the latest report suggests that after 9 months of working from home the cracks are beginning to show. The study cites three main coronavirus-related concerns: the impact on staff morale and wellbeing (58%) — especially for those firms with six or more fee-earners; maintaining a client base for the future (34%), and the impact on efficiency (25%). Further, 46% of respondents said miscommunication or insufficient communication was a growing problem for home-working staff. Though a majority found their working hours more flexible, a third said they were working longer hours and stress had worsened for 45% of respondents. Overall, 43% said their morale and wellbeing was worse, with only 13% saying it was better.
Rapid change has also been seen in the world of lawtech. As a result of the pandemic sales cycles of IT products to law firms have shortened this year, according to a Law Society-backed report. The Global Legal Tech Report is based on responses from 61 suppliers. The Global Legal Tech Report is the world’s first and most comprehensive study into the legal tech industry and the people behind the businesses. Backed by partner legal tech associations across the globe and industry-leading research partners, this first-of-its-kind survey is designed to help law firms, legal tech businesses, investors and other relevant parties comprehensively understand the booming market.
Redbrick Solutions are part of this booming conveyancing market with our collaboration with Coadjute. Via blockchain, Coadjute enables digital connectivity between property businesses. The platform will allow estate agents and conveyancers using the dezrez, dezrezlegal, MRI Software, Reapit and Redbrick Solutions software to view a transaction’s progress and status, receive synchronised alerts, and share messages and documents rapidly and securely. This will enable them to conduct the transaction faster, with less friction and more securely. Hopefully making the process easier for the conveyancer and also improving the client experience.
Following an unprecedented year, what can the conveyancing market expect in 2021? This session from Groundsure will include a summary of 2020 and look at the challenges the conveyancing industry had to face. We’ll start with a review of the residential, construction, and commercial markets. We will also give an overview of key changes coming up and what trends are going to affect the industry in 2021 such as the SDLT holiday, homebuyers looking for a more rural lifestyle, mortgage availability and other forecasts. To find out more, join our complimentary webinar on March 9th 11am . Please register here if you are interested:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7308166129414519053