Since November 2016, the SRA (Solicitor Regulation Authority) rules around how legal Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is undertaken have been relaxed in order to allow practitioners to tailor their approach to professional development. Although the SRA, CLC (Council for Licensed Conveyancers) and CILEx (Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) all expect members to undertake CPD activities, they are not prescriptive about the approach taken. For conveyancers, as for other legal professionals, the emphasis is on continuing competence and ensuring that they reflect on recent learnings and apply it to their work.
Bearing in mind today’s vast array of CPD options, how can conveyancers best invest their time? At first glance, online training and webinars might seem a convenient method. However, having hosted CPD events for the best part of a decade, we’ve seen the benefits of supplementing desk learning with face-to-face property seminars.
From our experience, the CPD events that work best are those offering a good best mix of topics such as property search risks, compliance tools, industry knowledge and changing legislation. Multiple sessions per event are also welcome, so attendees can get best value for their time out of the office and add to the number of CPD hours they are recording.
Below I have outlined the key benefits of out-of-office CPD:
- Interaction. Sessions are organised to encourage delegates to take part in discussions and share their knowledge and expertise about the conveyancing industry, legislation and products, benefitting the entire group. We find that shared expertise works really well.
- Real-life property scenarios and case studies. Conveyancers are able to share various work situations they have come across and how they have dealt with them. This is an excellent way for participants to gauge tips and tricks they can apply in their own workplace.
- Networking. Events are the perfect time for attendees to network with their peers in a pressure-free environment, be that other participants or speakers, further enhancing the learning potential for all those involved.
- Regional property focus. CPD events often provide regional case studies based on particular conveyancing risks or the current state of the property market. This works well both in terms of improving the service that a conveyancer can offer in that area and offering attendees on business development opportunities.
- Event takeaways. After the event, delegates receive copies of the presentations and examples used as part of the session, to ensure they can refer back to their key learnings after the event.
It goes without saying that conveyancers are incredibly busy people and they will be looking to make the most out of every CPD event to which they dedicate their time. While every approach to CPD is valid as long as it furthers the practitioner’s knowledge, out-of-office events offer a mix of benefits that help conveyancers hone a variety of key skills.
