Relentless, exhausting caseloads, increasing client expectations, regulatory overload and low fees – all were cited as ‘daily stresses’ by practitioners attending the first day of National Conveyancing Week on Monday. ‘The list goes on and [the] profession does not seem to be changing,’ Natalie Moore, managing director of Aconveyancing, told the conference.
LawCare, the mental health charity for the legal sector, receives calls from lawyers ‘evenly spread across the sector’, chief executive Elizabeth Rimmer said, but ‘there are some inherent working practices common across the profession’.
Post-Covid, ‘a lot of people feel squeezed to do more with less and pressure to keep costs down’, Rimmer said.
‘In conveyancing, it’s a highly emotive area of work. The largest purchase people make in their lives is their home. They want those keys on that day. They want this to go quickly. They do not always understand the hoops you may need to be jumping through, why you’re asking them to verify their income, their proof of funds, their identity documents, because that’s a requirement. That client who is shouting down the phone is probably expressing fear and frustration about the situation they’re in. You’re the recipient of it.’
Rimmer highlighted the need to understand the emotional impact of conveyancing work ‘and how to respond when someone is in a highly emotive state’.
LawCare is surveying legal professionals on life in the law, with questions on working hours, job pressures, burnout, mental health and wellbeing. Responses will inform practical, evidence-based recommendations on working practices to better support mental health. The survey closes on Friday.
Conveyancers are currently under intense pressure to complete transactions ahead of stamp duty land tax thresholds changing next month. The legal ombudsman is braced for a surge in complaints from angry buyers blaming their solicitor for being unable to complete before the deadline.
This article is now closed for comment.
16 Readers' comments