E-conveyancing savings boom

COSTS ANALYSIS: research shows the benefits of local authority searches on-line

Electronic conveyancing is set to offer law firms real financial benefits, research has suggested.

A report by legal management consultancy Practical Solutions, which looked at just one aspect of e-conveyancing - the Searchflow on-line local authority search service through the National Land Information Service (NLIS) - concluded that such a system 'genuinely has the potential to make a big difference to bottom-line profits'.

McDonald Detweiler and TM also run similar NLIS search services.

The report calculated that to complete three searches by conventional postage-and-paper methods, a law firm can expect to spend between 65 and 76 minutes, or the equivalent of 23 to 26, in billable time.

This is based on the different pay levels of everyone involved in a typical high street conveyancing practice, from the office junior carrying out photocopying (at 10 an hour) through to conveyancers (33 per hour) and partners (66 per hour), plus an analysis of the average time taken handling each step of the process.

The report said this is in contrast with a cost of 15 minutes - or 4.75 - when using Searchflow.

It suggested that if firms also integrate the Searchflow system with case management software, they can expect even greater benefits, with the time involved falling to 12 minutes (3.67) or less.

Practical Solutions' senior technology consultant Brian Blackwell said that when looked at in isolation, these figures may not seem very much; however, when projected across a month, a firm handling just 25 conveyancing transactions a month can expect to save between 21 and 29 hours by using Searchflow.

The report said this translates to between 250 and 350 hours during the course of a year.

For larger firms with major conveyancing practices - handling say 300 conveyances a month - the saving could amount to between 3,000 and 4,200 hours a year or the equivalent of two or three members of staff.

Mr Blackwell said: 'Just how a firm chooses to leverage the maximum benefit out of these savings will depend upon the individual practice but the options would certainly include enjoying a wider profit margin on each conveyancing transaction, having more room to compete on price while still remaining profitable, and being able to reallocate staff to other areas of the practice - or even cut back on the total head count and, as a consequence, reduce overall operating expenses.'