If I could turn back time …

Remember a few years ago when Cher was going on about turning back time and she apologised for being too proud to tell us that she was both wrong and sorry, in equal measure.  Many of the complaints made by lawyers about other lawyers, and by agents about lawyers, typically refer to that fact that it used to be much quicker to buy and sell properties and technology is making things worse.

There’s no denying that transactions were quicker 20 years ago, but society has changed and the reality is that the pressures have never been as high as it is now.  We see first-hand how people are rushing to judgement; we recently received a one star Google review, because our client couldn’t use our portal as they didn’t have Wifi and told us we should have used email, despite the fact it’s the number one method for fraud.

The problem with harking back to the good old days is that we tend to gloss over the problems we had. Like rickets and polio.

Things just take too long now

If you want to grow your social media audience, just ask the question; “why, with all the technology we have today, does it take so long to buy a house”.  At this point, the online heavens will open, with agents complaining about lazy and incompetent lawyers and lawyers complaining that every lawyer with more than six months experience has moved to Barbados and they have been reduced to playing Judy against Punch’s clown.

Overlooking the lack of evidence showing experienced lawyers have retired and can now mostly be found in high street charity shops, there does seem to be an issue with a lack of experience today.  This could be due to a number of factors; the pandemic resulting in new lawyers not getting the supervision needed, experienced lawyers moving to self-employed consultancy so they can afford to run fewer cases, resulting in higher caseloads elsewhere so experienced staff don’t have enough time to train junior colleagues.

Whatever the reason, transaction timescales are taking longer and it seems to only be going in one direction.

Genie is out of the bottle

Although we cannot turn back time, being in denial on how to fix it doesn’t help either.  In the recent “The Road Ahead” survey by Landmark, it stated that only 34% of lawyers saw that digitisation of the process was a priority, down from 51% the previous year.  This suggests either lawyers have already adopted new technology, or more likely, that they have dismissed it as not bringing enough value.

This is not a good look for lawyers and unfortunately plays into the hands of those that claim they do not want to change.  The reality is that investment in technology is woefully low amongst small and medium sized law firms, and for good reason.  When working flat-out on caseloads, stopping the machine running to investigate new technology is simply not an option.

Which is why, the government’s recent announcement of a pilot to investigate whether collecting data at the start of the process and sharing it with others was met with such derision from lawyers. The reality is that it’s like telling mountaineers that the provision of a new bus service from Kathmandu to the foothills of Everest is going to enable them to get to the summit in hours. 

Make no mistake, this proposed concept will not speed up the home-buying and selling process by itself.

Don’t worry - technology IS the answer … and it’s coming

Instead, we must look at the extraordinary technology developments happening today that will change how we conduct conveyancing. In 2025, the phrase “Conversational Singularity”, the concept where you talk to a computer without realising it’s not human, will come to the fore. It’s achieved by linking voice technology to artificial intelligence that uses large language models (eg GPT ) and a database, so you can have a conversation with a machine using content based on stored data.

Customer service firms are already using this and it won’t be long before law firms start see the benefit. If we can train a machine on thousands of conveyancing cases, analysing the documents and the resultant enquiries and answers they have generated in the past, and combine this with the ability to communicate with a human over the telephone or by email, this will bring us the improvements we all crave.

Which is why it’s important to start to capture data in a way that lawyers can use it effectively, and despite Cher’s convincing rhetoric, going forward does start with a first step – but we must acknowledge it’s not the gamechanger some think it is.

Peter Ambrose is the owner of The Partnership and Legalito – specialising in the delivery of transparent and ultra-efficient conveyancing services and software.

Peter Ambrose: pambrose@thepartnershiplimited.com, 01483 579978

Press enquiries: Tracy Holland, tholland@thepartnershiplimited.com 01483 579978