Today's Conveyancer Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

With the growth and consolidation within legal technology it can be a minefield for firms to navigate how to choose the best technology for their business which both serves them now and supports with their future plans. 

Even experienced professionals can find the balance between investment, efficiency and compliance challenging. Its a topic on which Cathy Kirby and David Baskerville, legal technology consultants from Baskerville Drummond LLP are well placed to provide their expert insight as the latest Today's Conveyancer Podcast unpacks the complexities of legal tech, infrastructure, and strategic planning for law firms navigating digital transformation.

The discussion explores how law firms often underutilise their existing technology, likening it to using only 5% of Microsoft Word’s capabilities. Cathy and David stress the importance of understanding infrastructure readiness, data governance, and internal processes before adopting new tools or AI solutions.

They highlight the challenges of integrating systems across departments with differing workflows, and the resurgence of “best of breed” strategies as firms seek more specialised solutions. The conversation also covers the limitations of APIs, the risks of data leakage, and the importance of knowing where master records reside.

One topic they are both unequivocal on is cybersecurity, urging firms to prioritise due diligence, supplier audits, and accreditations like Cyber Essentials and ISO. They note increasing pressure from insurers and regulators, and the growing role of these standards in tenders and M&A activity.

The episode closes with a powerful reminder: law firms must invest in their IT teams. Cathy and David advocate for mentoring, training, and realistic expectations - emphasising that no single IT manager can be expert in everything from security to strategy.

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

David Opie, host of the Today’s Conveyancer Podcast, welcomes back PEXA UK for a timely update. Since first joining the podcast nearly two years ago much has changed both for PEXA and in the property market. 

Joining him is Angela Hesketh, PEXA's Head of Market Development, who shares insights into PEXA’s journey since arriving on UK shores some five years ago. 

The conversation revisits PEXA’s Australian origins, where it handles 92% of property transactions. Angela clarifies that while the UK system shares similarities, PEXA UK has built its infrastructure from scratch to suit local needs.

A payments scheme operating from within the Bank of England, PEXA started out in remortgage, recently surpassing £200m in processed payments. 

With the property market undergoing significant digitisation PEXA anticipate its recently launched sale and purchase proposition will play it part in supporting the transformation of the sector. 

There are lots of questions to answer

• is this another example of a network needing all participants engaged to benefit?
• what happens to client account and interest?
• where does PEXA fit with other industry initiatives like the Property Data Trust Framework; the and technology solutions already launched from Zoopla and LMS?
• how much does the digitisation of HM Land Registry drive (or hold back) solutions like PEXA?

and much more. 

Angela highlights the importance of building the “plumbing” first which for PEXA includes FCA approval for its third party managed accounts (TPMA) solution. PEXA Pay, a key innovation, enables direct movement of lender funds without routing through client accounts. Angela explains how this reduces risk and improves transparency, especially as the UK explores alternatives to traditional client account models.

The discussion covers innovation, digitisation, technology and the future of conveyancing as Angela shares her experience both in her role at PEXA and as a former conveyancer herself.

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

In the regular quarterly update looking at the latest statistics from Landmark, Today's Conveyancer Podcast host David Opie is joined by Ben Robinson and Rob Gurney of Landmark to pore over the latest Property Trends report covering the second quarter of 2025. 

This is the first opportunity to review the impact of the stamp duty deadline on 31st March 2025, with a 79% year-on-year surge in completions compared to March 2024. There was an expected dip in April, down a third year on year and the interesting inference from the stats in the quarter's report is the subdued recovery, which is ongoing now in July, says Gurney.

In the first half of the year the market is 8% up, driven by the SDLT deadline and with listing volumes up 5% on 2024 there is a desire to move; but with so many properties on the market, it's a buyer's paradise and there is much less urgency says Robinson, resulting in a realignment of asking price and reduced transaction speed. 

Summary of Q2 year-on-year activity for England and Wales:

• In England and Wales listings volumes were up 5% in Q2 ‘25 compared to Q2 ‘24.
• In England and Wales SSTC volumes in Q2 ‘25 were down 7% in Q2 ‘25 compared to Q2 ‘24.
• Completion volumes, in England and Wales, were down 20% in Q2 ‘25 compared to Q2 ’24.

Listen in to this shorter podcast for the latest insight and opinion. 

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

The latest Today’s Conveyancer podcast welcomes industry expert Kate Faulkner OBE to deliver her verdict on the current state of the property market, the ills of the home moving process, ROPA, Up front information and the work being done by the Home Buying and Selling Group to improve the experience for all.

Since starting her career in food Kate has since become a respected commentator and consumer champion in the property industry. She has launched a property portal, worked in relocation, part exchange and new build and now runs a communications agency, helping consumers with their property projects. 

Kate delivers a typically honest appraisal of the current state of the market ("the truth is, we don't know"), regulation of estate agency ("I am shouting from the rooftops we have to regulate estate agents. Everybody around the agents is regulated in some form or another, so we need to tick that box) and progress on some of the initiatives launched by the Home Buying and Selling Group ("we need mandation to make further progress")

But she is buoyant about the progress to date and fervently believes that change is coming. Discussing the work done previously she says she doesn't believe in missed opportunities, rather that the timing wasn't right. 

"We’re in the right time (now), we’ve got the right people, we are making changes to the home buying a selling process that we couldn’t do before. You learn why it didn’t happen and you put it right."

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

In this latest Today's Conveyancer podcast host David Opie is joined by Richard Hinton. Known to many for his years in marketing and business development in the legal services sector, both in house and as a supplier, Richard discusses the “vacuum of market intelligence” that conveyancers face when it comes to using data to drive their businesses forward.

Despite a blip during Covid where the number of firms increased to cope with demands, the home moving industry continues to see a contraction in the number of practices undertaking conveyancing work. The larger firms are getting larger as smaller ones exit no doubt because of the increasing risk and PI premiums.

"It's ironic," says Richard, "lawyers train to eradicate risk and rely on certainty, and yet as leaders of conveyancing businesses, we're making decisions on conjecture and gut feel. "

Conveyancers need to be able to use data to drill into their relative position in their geographic. They need to be able to understand what their opportunities are. If they are thinking about a new marketing campaign or a new office what is the competition and what is the strength of the referral market, particularly estate agents as an example. 

Data is also a powerful sales tool; enabling firms to demonstrate their expertise in a particular type of property, tenure, or location; and highlighting transaction speeds and turnarounds. 

Powered by TwentyCi who have extensive experience in the estate agency market, TwentyConvey has been launched to provide more quantitative and qualitative insight into the property market. 

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

In this latest Today's Conveyancer podcast host David Opie is joined by Martin MacDuff, founder of Redbrick Solutions, to discuss case management systems, practice management systems and technology.

Are conveyancers more reliant on case management workflows than ever before? With experienced conveyancers leaving the industry, how much do we have a "computer says no" culture and how much does case management facilitate that? 

Or does case management help by segmenting conveyancing work efficiently so that each stage is completed by subject specialists?

Alongside this, and the consolidation of the market over the past couple of years, Martin discusses his thoughts on cloud vs on premise solutions and which works best for firms depending on their own infrastructure and requirements. 

Questioned on the level of investment firms should be thinking about when it comes to technology, Martin suggests that between 3-5% of turnover is best practice across their technology requirements. 

Despite the proliferation of technology, transactions continue to take longer. Martin acknowledges that case management has done much to improve the process internally for firms, but there is work to be done to provide a truly "digital conveyancing " process. 

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

In the first epsiode of the second series of the Today's Conveyancer Podcast host David Opie is joined by Muve CEO David Jabbari.

David was part of one of the first Alternative Business Structures (ABS) to be launched following the Legal Services Act, dubbed "Tesco Law." At the time it was feared the Act would precipitate the death of the high street lawyer as it lowered the barrier to entry for established consumer brands to enter the law and set up firms to cater for their customers.

The reality was it didn't happen, and in this podcast we explore some of the reasons why as David discusses his own experience at Parabis, who were one of the first law firms to secure private equity funding and were closely associated with Saga at the time.

David also discusses technology, innovation and unbundling; the process by which conveyancing is increasingly seen as a standalone, commoditised service. 

He also share his thoughts on the current state of the conveyancing market and offers up some predictions for what might happen in 2023 and beyond.

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

Following the publication of two previous "state of the nation" reports, CEO of tmgroup Joe Pepper joins Host David Opie to provide an exclusive preview of the initial results of their latest survey. 

David and Joe are joined by Founder of Aconveyancing  Natalie Moore for this special edition of the Today's Conveyancer podcast.

With over 800 responses, 3/4 of which are drawn from the conveyancing industry, the survey provides a finger on the pulse of the latest market sentiment, and follows 2 previous reports; "Thriving in a Pandemic" and "The New Normal."

The full report will be out in January 2023 and in this podcast Joe Pepper provides a first look at the results, with some of the standout statistics including:

• 63% of respondents said that remuneration is a big issue
• 33% of respondents said they are actively looking to leave the conveyancing  industry
• Less than 20% of firms have increased their focus on succession planning

Alongside discussing some of the initial results, Joe and Natalie share their thoughts on what firms need to be thinking about heading into 2023; particularly given the market uncertainty caused by economic and social factors.

It's not all doom and gloom and as the saying goes, "every cloud has a silver lining." Listen in to hear what opportunities 2023 might present for conveyancers. 

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

In this Today's Conveyancer podcast host David Opie is joined by lawyer and technology entrepreneur Vanessa Challess. 

As owner of Tiger Bytez and Tiger Law, Vanessa brings a practical view of the current state of conveyancing with strong words for conveyancers over current service levels and technology adoption. She also warns firms that technology will become a recruiting tool and that the best conveyancers will move to technology-led firms as competition for talent stiffens. 

Listen in to hear some of Vanessa's top tips for conveyancing firms including;

1. Don't allow yourself to be chased. Proactivity will save 3-4 calls and emails.
2. Think about the roles in the team. Should we have roles in the team dedicated to communications and updates, not unlike the sales progressors in an estate agent's office.
3. Technology won't replace the human touch when it comes to holding home mover's hands. We can use technology to help with the admin, but we still need change our mindset when it comes to using technology to help us smooth the flow of the transaction. 

Vanessa's own market research suggests that there is a continued culture clash between clients, who want speed of service, and conveyancers who are under pressure to deliver faster transaction times.

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack

Having achieved seed investment in Move Genius, Founder Hannah Nicholson joins host David Opie to discuss the direction of travel of technology in the conveyancing space.

Creating a seamless journey for home movers, estate agents and conveyancers seems to be the holy grail, but with myriad technology solutions, how can we achieve a more joined up approach?

And are people ready to change? How are we going to move the industry forward over the next 2-5 years to really change the narrative around the relationships between home movers and estate agents, home movers and conveyancers, and estate agents and conveyancers.

For Hannah this requires "collaboration between tech solutions and a change in industry mindset."

Listen in to this latest Today's Conveyancer podcast to hear the thoughts of Hannah on the current challenges she sees in the home moving process, and what role blockchain has in creating the building block for collaboration.

The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. 

Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack