Seeing the wood for the trees…

Seeing the wood for the trees…

I have had an interesting week working from home as the woods around where I live  and my office is now based are subject to a thinning programme involving some amazing tree felling machinery. This leads me to wonder if now that the SDLT window has closed whether we can now draw breath and if it is possible to see the wood for the trees.

Lockdown and the vast amount of work generated by the SDLT window has led to –

  • Advances in the conveyancing process including electronic signatures, electronic client verification, and a more collaborative approach to conveyancing transactions in most cases.
  • A vast increase in workload for conveyancers generating a need to make the conveyancing process more efficient.
  • Significantly for IQ Legal Training Limited and myself the migration of training from face-to-face training to virtual online training.

The significant improvements and benefits seen in the context of conveyancing obviously do not go anywhere near to redressing the distress and anguish encountered by many over these difficult times. A concern,  within the context of the conveyancing practice, is that lockdown and working habits over the last 16 months or so have created a perfect storm for property fraud and mistakes being made by conveyancers. I am seeing that these two issues can lead to problems in obtaining professional indemnity cover for firms and, at best, the potential for large increases in premiums.

With that in my mind, the collaboration between IQ Legal Training Limited and Today’s Conveyancer and the introduction of a series of training webinars for readers will provide some assistance. The virtual learning environment is an ideal platform for conveyancing training and the plan is to deliver relevant and informative training on topics, that will be of interest to conveyancers of all levels and experience. Anyone attending the webinars offered will be provided with a certificate of attendance that can be used as evidence of competency and of continuing professional development, which will assist in satisfying insurers of steps being taken to address  risks and adherence to good practice  in the conveyancing sector.

The first webinar on the 3.8.21 is examining cladding and ground rent issues, which will be useful for anyone undertaking leasehold transactions, and then on the 7.9.21 we will be looking at the thorny problem of estate rent charges.

Each webinar will be accompanied with extensive notes and there will be opportunities for delegate questions during the event and afterwards.

Following on from this we will explore boundary issues and problems for residential conveyancers on the 21.9.21 and then on the 3.10.21 we will look at avoiding negligence claims and client complaints. Going forward there will be regular training webinars during autumn and winter on Tuesdays.

Those webinars will primarily be delivered by me but watch out for some very interesting topics as a number of colleagues will be joining me. Watch this space for dates and topics, and if you would like any particular topics covered, please let me know.

Additionally, in order to upskill support staff, introduce new recruits to your conveyancing department, or provide an update for returners to work, we will be offering a course going through the conveyancing process from start to finish explaining the law and procedure in a series of 12 one-hour webinars delivered on a weekly basis. Details will follow soon but the course will start in September 2021.

I don’t know much about trees (although I know a man who does, Tom Graham a barrister and trainer who works with us who can tell you all about the legal issues associated with trees) but I hope these new webinars and the new venture with Today’s Conveyancer, David Opie, and his team will mean we can assist conveyancers going forward in providing accessible, valuable, and cost-effective training so that we can all spend more time admiring the trees around us even though there are less around me than there used to be.

 

Ian Quayle is CEO of IQ Legal Training

For a full list of courses please see our “Training” page here: https://todaysconveyancer.co.uk/todays-training/

Today's Conveyancer

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