When I first set up Goldsmith Williams with my partner, Chris Williams our clients did what we advised them, it took a minimum of four weeks between exchange and completion and, if I remember correctly, we had to charge a set fee of £750.
Failure to do so resulted in a disciplinary from the Lord Chancellor’s Department.
25 years later it is a very different story. Nowadays the fee has been reduced to around half, while staff overheads have gone up considerably.
There is rarely ever four weeks between exchange and completion and solicitors do what their clients tell them.
Times they are a changing and those firms that don’t change with them will get left behind. Conveyancing is moving toward a 21st Century model – a non face-to-face, standardised service that is more convenient for the modern customer.
These days people don’t want to spend what spare time they have sat in a solicitors office, rather they prefer to communicate by other methods, over the phone, email, even text messages.
Whether the industry likes it or not, the reality is that the way in which conveyancing services are delivered is evolving.
Currently the sector is made up of thousands of practices and as a consequence the market is very fragmented, which can often lead to delays in the moving process.
I believe that over the next five to 10 years a new way of doing things will move the market away from the conventional High Street solicitor to a more commoditised service and I’ve no doubt that ABSs’ will accelerate this.
But before anyone gets upset about such a scandalous revelation, it is wise to recognise the opportunity this brave new world presents.
Refining processes so transactions run with as little disruption to clients as possible is, of course, great news for the customer, but it doesn’t end there.
The remote model also makes the process slicker and more cost effective without detracting from the quality of the work - all of which are ultimately good news for the bottom line.
