Property: Property lawyers unite!

As you may recall, I chaired a Law Society of Scotland working party some years ago somewhat grandly titled “The Future of Conveyancing”. Amongst the discussions, there was a clear view that something had to be done to enhance and develop the overall brand of being a Scottish property lawyer focused on the residential sale/purchase sector. 

For various reasons, it was not possible to take that suggestion forward at that time nor later, but I do now believe that we have a rapidly shrinking window in which likeminded firms can come together to set up and instigate a body which would represent us to our clients, the rest of the profession, and to the world in general as a clear and distinct sector of legal work.

One point on which the working party agreed immediately was that there is no inherent right for solicitors in carrying out conveyancing work. Although, since 1980, the preparation of dispositions is a reserved area under the Solicitors (Scotland) Act of that year, it is stating the obvious that the world has been completely transformed since then. 

In 1980, the largest firms were probably in the mid-teens in terms of partner numbers and nearly all considered the provision of residential conveyancing as an inherent part of their service range. That is no longer the case, and while residential property work is perhaps of much greater benefit to the classic high street firm than others, it is clearly a sector which for some years now has been strongly challenged to be an efficient and economic venture. This is not the place to debate the whys and wherefores of that change, but simply to recognise the current climate in which we operate (and have done for some time now). 

Danish model

So what to do? I strongly believe that we require to move to something much more akin to the Danish model which colleagues and I looked at several years ago. There they have a clear, distinct Property Lawyers Association which represents them to the community at large and indeed is recognised as being the consumer voice in relation to home ownership issues. That body invests in the national marketing of the association brand, but how our own model is developed in that and other respects is a matter for ourselves of course. 

It could be argued that all this is the responsibility of the Law Society of Scotland, but I know as a former convener of the Property Law Committee that the ability of the Society not just to defend specific sectors but to enhance and develop them as to special brands is restricted for a variety of administrative and financial reasons. In brief, if anything is to happen here, it is up to individual firms to try and take matters forward on a collective and hopefully collegiate basis. 

Embryonic Forum

It is suggested that what is needed is a gathering of likeminded firms willing to come together to develop a new Scottish Conveyancers Forum, building on (but not replacing) the success and efforts of the current similar bodies in Edinburgh and Glasgow to achieve those aims. It would be hoped that in a short time its branding and marketing can be developed for the benefit of all its members (whoever they may be), along with agreed protocols aimed at making the sale/purchase process more streamlined for the benefit of not just the profession but of course our clients.

I would strongly argue that while we are all in our own way competitors and we all have our own marketing budgets, etc, there is a glaring omission in not having an overarching body which can represent our specific sector. 

To that end therefore, a small steering committee has met online and agreed to develop this concept by initially adopting a working version of a proposed constitution to create such a Scottish Conveyancers Forum. What we as a group now require is support from you, and to that end we invite you to contact myself initially to express your interest and possible thoughts as to how the Forum can be taken forward. Once we hear from you we can then circulate further information and work up action points for discussion and circulation.

If nothing else, the committee will be taking over and shortly issuing a new, fifth edition of the Scottish Standard Clauses under its banner – so watch out for that.

I hope you agree with this proposal and will be delighted to hear from you (preferably by email to ross.mackay@coulters.io) in the near future.