Diary Of A Conveyancer

Reasons to choose Wilson Browne

Daniella Afonso is a Paralegal Conveyancer in our Higham Ferrers office. She has been with the firm since July 2021 and has already seen her role and responsibilities develop during her short time with Wilson Browne Solicitors.

First job of the day …. Organise my desk

The key to being a successful conveyancer is organisation. Why? I am busy. My day comprises of numerous phone calls and emails (often in excess of 100 a day). On top of that, I actually need to undertake the work to progress every transaction!

A focus on a tidy desk, “to-do” lists, whiteboards, checklists and plenty of post-it-notes gets me off to a good start.

Priority

In an ideal world every file would be a priority, however in reality of course someone who is moving on that day will need to take priority over a general update phone call/email. After a review of my “to do” list and inbox, files are put into priority order and where possible distributed to other members of the team.

Next

I grab a drink, it’s important to stay hydrated!

Early in the day, if I can I might start with a title check. These are time consuming, technical and require a lot of concentration. For me, title checks are better dealt with first thing when there are less in the way of distractions. This doesn’t always go to plan however. If something urgent crops up, I may need to move away and work on another file in between.

What’s involved?

As well as reviewing the actual title documents, I also need to move between Rightmove, ‘Google Maps’ and the Land Registry ‘Map search’ portal. I make notes and start to draft the report to my client and enquiries (questions) that I need to ask of the seller’s conveyancer. Once finalised, I send an early report to my client and the enquiries to the seller’s conveyancer. I may also request the searches at this point if they haven’t already been requested.

What else?

Well, no two conveyancing transactions or days for that matter are the same. Some days I may title check all day, on a particularly complicated matter, other days, and several files may cross my desk.

Aside from title checking, every day I also spend a large proportion of my time updating clients and other relevant parties and meeting with clients where necessary, drafting quotes for new matters, business development and marketing, training, post completion tasks etc.

Lunchtime!

Conveyancing by its very nature can be stressful which is why it is important to spend some time away from my desk. I may pop to the shops, going for a walk or perhaps a visit to the bakery! Whatever it is, it breaks up my day and enables me to have a more productive afternoon.

Supervision

I make sure that throughout the day I spend time catching up with my team about any ongoing matters and their general wellbeing.

Planning for exchange and completion

At the beginning of each week, the team and I note any up and coming completion dates together with any matters that may be ready to exchange contracts. These are added to a whiteboard and reviewed daily.

A final note

Of course not every day runs as smoothly as others; some days I may spend longer on a matter than initially anticipated, or other days I can have an influx of emails that require my attention. Collectively as a team, we work together to ensure all urgent matters are dealt with expeditiously.

By the time I have conquered most, if not all, of my tasks planned it is usually approaching the end of the day! This is where I sort all the letters that are being posted to our clients and try to organise my desk ahead of the following day! This includes putting away any files that I have dealt with across the day, and cleaning up my inbox. I always find this sets me up for the following day!