News
How do Homegrown Conveyancers Help Clients On The Move?
Wed 29 May 2019
Now Taylor Rose has come up with a solution that will boost the number of conveyancers it employs so we can give our clients a faster, smoother completion - so they can get on with the part they’re looking forward to most - moving!
Director Brendan O’Brien is responsible for property law at the firm: “The company had an idea that if we could train, promote and create new conveyancers from within our firm, we could strengthen and grow our conveyancing teams to deliver an enhanced service for our clients, and help more clients complete sooner, last year that idea was realised when Liz Lennox, one of our most senior conveyancers, was tasked with creating our own in-house Trainee Conveyancer Programme, and we are now delivering continuity of training and practice across our conveyancing platform.”
Liz explains why the course is so important for staff who want to progress their career in conveyancing.
“The course is designed specifically for experienced assistant administrators who have been working in our conveyancing department for more than a year. We ran it as a pilot to start within October last year, and I am delighted to say that our first cohort of trainees have graduated from assistant administrator to junior conveyancer after six months of rigorous training. The pilot was so successful that we are now running the programme as a proven way of training our most experienced administrators who are keen to progress their career in conveyancing.
Growing our conveyancers organically like this is sustainable in many ways. It means we can identify the people we already have in situ who want to develop within the company and help them achieve it while creating a competent and experienced team of conveyancers who have all had the same consistent pathway of learning. We want all our conveyancing staff to be the best they can be - so if career progression is what they aspire to - this course gives them the opportunity to do that, right here. It’s a template we can roll out for future generations of conveyancers to come.
Around 20 years ago, when my own career in conveyancing began, no training was provided for the bright new assistants who joined law firms with dreams of moving up the ladder. The work of a conveyancer is so fast-paced there is precious little time for handholding when new people come on board because everyone is busy prioritising their own client caseload. It was very much a sink or swim mentality, where only those who managed to keep their heads above water succeeded. I saw people come into the business, fail and leave, while others were so put off, they left the industry entirely.
This course provides a dedicated programme of learning that takes place outside the busy day-to-day, so new conveyancers can be at the top of their game and work their own caseload with confidence, having followed a consistent method of training and receive ongoing support. When it comes to content, the course is a rich mix of theory and practical content, with weekly workshops followed by refresher tests, and a mid-point and final exam. Students are expected to study in their own time and attend the classes, as well as manage a caseload and continue to fulfill their assistant role. However, ‘one-to-one’ support is always available and students agree that this has been a real benefit. After the new ‘junior conveyancers’ have qualified, their progress is monitored and one-to-one support continues to ensure they are dealing confidently with their clients and caseload."
Liz continues: “I knew our candidates needed something structured that showed them all the aspects of conveyancing - so I designed the course to give our assistants everything they needed to know to enable them to become a good conveyancer - from its beginnings, processes and property law and practical aspects, as well as the more unusual elements our conveyancers deal with every day. We also wanted to take the focus away from the ‘stack ‘em high’ conveyer belt approach, taking a view of our role from the client’s perspective. After all, this is a human business, and the role of a good conveyancer is to guide our clients through the transaction as smoothly and as painlessly as possible.
Before rolling out the pilot we identified three potential candidates who we wanted to enrol on the programme. They had already demonstrated their ability as assistant administrators. In addition, we ran an internal communications campaign to invite other members of staff to express an interest in applying to join the course, and I am very proud to say that, after sitting their final exam on 25 March, they have all been successful. We will continue to monitor their progress and provide them with ongoing support.
The second group of trainees are already working their way through the programme, with another group about to begin. The next step is to apply for CPD accreditation so that the course is a recognised programme.
Taylor Rose now has the template in place to put more hardworking assistant administrators through their paces and hopes this new vocational approach to a career as a conveyancer will also attract bright new talent into the organisation.
Brendan O’Brien concludes: “As well as being a great way to develop and retain our staff, it’s an attractive prospect for assistant administrators working outside our firm who are looking for a clear development and promotional pathway.”
Many congratulations to our graduates:
Click on the individual graduates above to read about their 'behind the senses' experience of the programme.
FAQ
Changing the career course of conveyancing
Taylor Rose came up with the idea to give their assistant administrators the opportunity to fast track their career by introducing a training programme that would give them everything they needed to become a conveyancer, including history, law, theory, practicalities, and processes as well as one to one support.
What is the Taylor Rose route to Conveyancer?
- Join as a Junior Administrator
- Progress to Assistant Administrator
- Work a minimum of one year as an Assistant Administrator
- Attend the Trainee Conveyancer Programme (six months from start to graduation)
- Graduate as a junior conveyancer (after a supported period of handling own caseload)
- Conveyancer
- Contract leader team Leader
Who is the course designed for?
The course is designed for assistant administrators who have performed in that role for a minimum of one year. It is also open to assistant administrators and junior conveyancers entering the organisation from other firms, where no structured form of training is available, and who could benefit by attending the course as a refresher.
What information does the course contain?
The course provides a complete understanding of the role and how it came about, its human elements, and the procedures conveyancers need to follow. It also covers the more unusual aspects of conveyancing, such as unregistered land.
How are the candidates assessed?
Candidates are assessed via a mid-point and final exam. After graduating to ‘junior conveyancer’, they receive ongoing training and monitoring to ensure they feel comfortable and confident in dealing with their caseload.
Did you know?
Conveyancing uncovered
Conveyancing predates all other legal fields. In the UK, we can trace conveyancing back to Henry VIII’s period, whereas Roman property law existed long before that. In fact, some of the principles the Romans introduced then haven’t changed much over the years.
Although the bread and butter for most law firms, conveyancing has always been viewed as the ‘poor cousin’.
While other areas of the law profession demand a university degree, conveyancers do not require a qualification to practice.
