Capacity and Transaction Times: The Question Clients Are Now Asking

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There is a question we are hearing more often from prospective clients. It comes before the question about price, and sometimes before the question about the property itself. The question is this: do you have the capacity to take my transaction on and move it quickly?

It is a good question. It is also one that, until recently, few clients thought to ask.

Why capacity matters

A conveyancing transaction is not a single event. It is a sequence of steps, each of which depends on someone picking up a file, reading what has arrived, deciding what to do next and doing it. Contract papers must be reviewed. Searches must be ordered and then read. Enquiries must be raised and, on the other side, answered. Mortgage offers must be checked against the title. Reports must be written. Funds must be requested and reconciled.

None of this is difficult in isolation. The difficulty arises when the person responsible for a step is not able to get to it. A file that sits untouched for a week because the case handler has two hundred other matters, or is on holiday, or has left the firm, adds a week to the transaction. Multiply that across four or five parties in a chain and it is easy to see how a purchase that should complete in ten weeks drifts to twenty.

Delay in conveyancing is rarely caused by a legal problem. It is far more often caused by a capacity problem. Somebody, somewhere in the chain, is not able to do the next thing.

Why clients are now asking

Clients have become more aware of this for several reasons.

Estate agents talk. An agent who has watched a sale collapse because one firm in the chain went quiet for three weeks will steer the next buyer elsewhere and will explain why.

The market has also become less forgiving. Mortgage offers expire. Sellers lose patience. Onward purchases fall through. A buyer who has been through one failed transaction learns quickly that the speed of their conveyancer matters as much as the fee.

There is also a wider conversation about the state of the profession. Firms have closed, merged or shed staff. Some have taken on more work than they can service in the hope that volume will solve their financial problems. Clients read about this and, sensibly, want to know whether the firm they are instructing is one of them.

The individual case handler model

Much of the residential conveyancing market still operates on a model in which one person owns a caseload. That person is the only one who knows the file. When they are busy, the file waits. When they are away, the file waits. When they leave, the file may be handed to someone who has to start from the beginning.

The model has the appearance of personal service. In practice it creates a single point of failure on every matter. Capacity is not a feature of the firm. It is a feature of whichever individual happens to be holding the file that week.

How we approach it at MJP

Capacity is not an issue for us, and that is by design rather than by luck.

We operate with teams rather than individual case handlers. Every matter is worked by a group of people who all have access to the file, all understand where it is and all can move it to the next step. If one member of the team is on leave or is occupied with an urgent matter, another picks up the work. Nothing waits for a single person to become available.

We also use technology to remove the delays that come from people rather than from law. Our case management system tracks every matter in real time, flags what is outstanding and shows us where a transaction has stalled so that it can be addressed on the day rather than discovered at the next review. Identity verification, source of funds checks, search ordering and client communication are all handled through systems that do not depend on someone remembering to send an email. Clients can see the progress of their matter for themselves without needing to telephone and ask.

The result is that we know our capacity at any given time. We know how many matters are open, how many are at each stage and how much work is due in the coming week. We do not take on work we cannot service, and when we do take a matter on we can say with confidence that it will move.

What this means in practice

It shows in our transaction times. Where the chain allows it, our matters move quickly because there is never a point at which the file is waiting for us. Enquiries are raised promptly. Replies are dealt with on receipt. Reports go out as soon as the information is available. Completion dates are met.

It also shows in the questions we are able to answer. When a client asks whether we have the capacity to take them on, we can tell them, and we can explain why the answer will still be the same in six weeks when their transaction is at its busiest point.

The question to ask

If you are choosing a conveyancer, ask about capacity. Ask how many matters each person is handling. Ask what happens to your file when that person is away. Ask whether anyone else in the firm will know what is going on. Ask what technology is used to keep the matter moving and whether you will be able to see progress for yourself.

The answers will tell you a great deal about how long your transaction is likely to take. A good conveyancer will welcome the question. We certainly do.

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