Head of conveyancing (London)
At university, my focus had been to pursue a career in medicine. But after three difficult years studying medical biochemistry, I realised that a future in science was not for me. The route into law was influenced by my father, who had been an immigration and asylum law practitioner for several years. Watching him advocating on behalf of clients during tribunal hearings was both engaging and exciting.
What I enjoyed and valued most as a trainee, and eventually as a newly qualified solicitor in a high street firm, was the exposure to different areas of law. Once I had been qualified for two years, I decided to hone my skills in one area of law. Although I enjoyed working in contentious law, conveyancing seemed a more natural fit for both my personality and an overall preference for a more process-driven environment.
What I enjoy the most about conveyancing is that no two days are ever the same. You are constantly challenged: whether it is a tight deadline that must not be missed or a chain of transactions will collapse; coming up with a solution to rectify a defective title; or managing demanding clients and unreasonable expectations, of which conveyancing appears to have a disproportionately high number.
The demands on the modern-day conveyancer are massively understated in the legal profession and among the public. More should be done to recognise how skilled many conveyancers are. A good example would be the work done by conveyancers before the recent stamp duty changes that came into effect on 1 April. Although not nearly as stressful as the previous stamp duty ‘holiday’ of 2020/21, which was pressure over a sustained period of time, the last few works before 1 April 2025 were both intense and stressful. To give a tiny insight into the effort that many conveyancers were putting in, I recall logging on to my emails on the Sunday (30th) with the intention of doing some preparatory work ahead of what I anticipated would be a frantic last day. What I found was over 100 emails sent on the Saturday alone – one at midnight from a lawyer replying to enquiries. The Friday (28th) and the Monday (31st) rank among some of the busiest days in my career.
'Although my life as a lawyer has had many ups and downs, nothing comes close to the rollercoaster game I had on Countdown!'
Conveyancing is inherently stressful. One would be hard pressed to circle one aspect above others as the most stressful element. Grappling with constant changes in the law (the Building Safety Act 2022 springs to mind), or those imposed by our regulators/governing bodies (updates to the Law Society’s TA Forms), has been stressful. From a non-legal standpoint, the expectations of clients, particularly the speed of communication, continue to be a source of stress. We operate in a WhatsApp generation, where immediate communication is the norm. Where this is not possible, too often conveyancers are accused of poor and delayed service.
The consensus among many conveyancers is that the home-buying and selling process is in need of urgent change. The challenge is how do we make the process quicker and more streamlined. It requires law firms to embrace technology and AI; remarkably, there are still some firms that operate without case management systems. There needs to be better training for conveyancers, so that issues such as the raising of superfluous enquiries which can delay transactions can be avoided.
Although my life as a lawyer has had many ups and downs, nothing comes close to the rollercoaster game I had on Countdown! It was a show I had watched since I was a child. I have always enjoyed word games and had become pretty useful at them. At the time, Jeff Stelling was presenting the show (pictured with Rachel Riley) and I was a fan of his (he also presented the Soccer Saturday show on Sky Sports). I applied to be on the show, came through an audition – and had my 30 minutes of fame! Unfortunately, I mis-spelt the word ‘liquors’ (I put the ‘o’ before the ‘u’) – and ultimately that cost me the game. It was a fab experience, however, and I have no regrets about going on.
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