Q. I act for a buyer in a conveyancing transaction. My client tells me that the seller's nephew used to work for a solicitors' firm as a paralegal. The seller wants to pay the nephew to handle the sale and the suggestion is that we dispense with a contract to avoid any problems with the Solicitors Act. Can we proceed on that basis?
A. The nephew could not carry out any reserved activities because he would breach the Solicitors Act 1974 and you could not deal with him as the seller's representative in those circumstances. The scope for a breach will be less if there is no contract, but you would need to discuss the potential pitfalls with your buyer client. The seller does not have to employ a 'qualified person' and you are not precluded from dealing with the nephew as long as neither you nor your client will be implicated in an offence. It would be an offence for the nephew (an unqualified person) to prepare a contract for the sale of the property for fee, gain or reward (section 22 of the Act). However, you will need to consider how the transaction will proceed and advise your client of any practical problems that might arise - for example, matters that are usually the subject of a solicitor's undertaking given on completion, such as discharge of the seller's mortgage. There is guidance on dealing with 'unqualified conveyancers' in annex 25A of The Guide to the Professional Conduct of Solicitors (1999).
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The professional ethics lines are open for general enquiries between 11am and 1pm, and 2pm and 4pm. It takes emergency calls outside these hours, tel: 0870 606 2577.
Question of ethics is compiled by the Law Society's professional ethics guidance team. Send questions to Austin O'Malley, the Law Society, Ipsley Court, Berrington Close, Redditch B98 0TD; DX 19114 Redditch
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