A sneak view into Chancery Lane

A sneak view into Chancery Lane

Often solicitors complain about the Law Society policy or procedures.  A reasonble response is that if it matters that much to you go and get involved and make a difference. Richard Barnett has for the last four years been involved and has been trying to make a difference.  At the end of his term as Chair of the Law Society’s Conveyancing and Land Law Committee he has written a piece for us to let us know what the inner sanctum of the Law Society does for conveyancers and why we should all think about getting involved.
Richard writes…
A sneak view into Chancery Lane
I have just given up the Chair of the Law Society’s Conveyancing and Land Law Committee [CLLC] after just over 4 years. In my periods of reflection, it seems to me that perhaps we have not been great at explaining to our members what the CLLC is, what it does, and what it achieves
The structure of the Law Society’s management is not over complicated. There are 4 main boards, Regulation, Management, Policy and Membership which control their allocated areas, and which are answerable to Council. The officials, led by Des Hudson are tasked to implement policies approved by the Boards. The various committees [including the CLLC] are answerable to the Legal Affairs and Policy Board. A chair of a committee is appointed for 3 years, but in exceptional circumstances can remain for another year.
The CLLC, like almost all of the other committees, undertakes work which is most relevant to practitioners’ day to day work. The committee is made up of around 14/15 people including Council members, a property practitioners [either commercial or residential, City or provincial, multi partner, or SP], academics and Land Registry representative.
We meet in Chancery Lane about 7 times a year, where we review current issues and proposals submitted to us. This could be a paper from one of our sub-groups, a request for advice from a property practitioner, a report from a Committee member who has represented us at a meeting with other stakeholders, or a response to a Government, or other body’s proposal relating to property. This last subject would cover, for instance, a parliamentary bill, a proposed change to Land Registry Rule or practice, or a proposed change to the CML Handbook, all of which could have a significant impact to practitioners
We therefore see our recommendations recorded, for instance in the Conveyancing Handbook, in Practice Notes, or referred to in Professional Update.
It is a challenge to disseminate information to the Profession, and with improvements in technology, I’m sure that observations, and practical advice will become more prevalent in the future
To give examples of some of the specific areas that we have been visibly working in would be the revision of the Conditions of Sale, the new[ish] TA forms, the standard Business lease, the protocol of the CQS, the Code for Completion, and the exchange formulae. We are constantly in touch with and meeting our stakeholders, such as the Land Registry, the CML, government departments, including HMRC, the BSA, and not forgetting the SRA, where we have had a lot of input into OFR, and how that might impact on property practitioners
I could go on at length detailing the successful work we have conclude, but suffice it to say that our workload is likely to increase because of the changes in technology, and ABS entrants for instance that will have an impact in what we as practitioners do, and how we will need to adapt our practices accordingly
The incoming chair is another Council member and property practitioner, Jonathan Smithers, to whom I wish much success. Rest assured that the CLLC’s work will be in safe hands!
It would be remiss of me not to say that from time to time vacancies do come up for committee membership, so if you think that you might be interested, don’t hold back from applying–keep your eyes peeled in the Gazette. It is not a daunting experience, and you might well actually enjoy it!!

Richard Barnett

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