How does a solicitor prioritise cases?

wherestheremote

Just wondering how it works. I’ve read that solicitors will often prioritise cases close to completion (?) but before this point, surely the cases will have to be prioritised some how.

How many cases might one solicitor have to deal with? Do they prioritise according to property price, maybe clients who are paying the most? I wonder if there’s a queuing system because whenever I reply to my solicitor, I only get a reply the following week usually at the same time. Even if it’s something simple like them asking me “can I add on this cost?”. Maybe I get put to the back of the queue again. Who knows. 

Why do some people suggest bothering the solicitor so much that they want to get rid of your case and therefore complete as soon as possible - is there actually any truth to this? 

Does anyone know?

theartfullodger

Dealing with people in a calm, polite way, enquiring how they are plus being as clear, friendly, prompt & helpful as possible just might make a difference.  Just a thought, probably just my fantasy....  Oh, and the killer is after any transaction giving a very positive review (eg Google reviews..), worth 2 minutes.

wherestheremote

theartfullodger said:

Dealing with people in a calm, polite way, enquiring how they are plus being as clear, friendly, prompt & helpful as possible just might make a difference.  Just a thought, probably just my fantasy....  Oh, and the killer is after any transaction giving a very positive review (eg Google reviews..), worth 2 minutes.

Huh? I don’t think you’ve read my post? Lol

oniongirl

They're saying that you might get priority if you are kind and polite to them when you do speak to them. Whether this is the case or not probably depends on the conveyancer. 

Cuddlybearman

Seems right now the only way to get a solicitor to priorities anything is to find where they are working from, sit outside with a sign saying "please can i have an update" for maybe 2-3 days. Hire a marching band to try and get their attention and then maybe, just maybe they will move your case into the top 20 for the week.

Seriously, the way that solicitors have carried on using this pandemic as an excuse is laughable. I've had to do my job all the way through this, I've only taken 2 weeks off work since February last year - and if i just flat out ignored requests from my customers for (literally) months i would probably be sacked. And i probably don't earn a third of what a solicitor earns.....

Mineral1

Yeah i agree with the above, i work in a fee earning consulting job and if i treated my clients the way solicitors generally seem to including mine, i think i'd be out of a job.

wherestheremote

oniongirl said:

They're saying that you might get priority if you are kind and polite to them when you do speak to them. Whether this is the case or not probably depends on the conveyancer. 

I see. I’m not specifically asking how to be prioritised just trying to understand how it works. 

princeofpounds

Yes they do prioritise. They have a variety of ways of doing so. Yes, they can prioritise based on higher fees and the value of the customer, but there's less of that going on than you might think as the vast majority of clients do not ask for fast-track services. 
 
The clue is in 'prioritising properties that are close to completion' [or rather exchange would be more accurate]. You have to understand a bit about how solicitors work on files. They really don't spend a huge amount of time on any one individual file, barring the odd case that is very complex. 

This is very approximate, but will give you a sense:

- They assess the file when it comes in, and contact all the necessary third parties for whatever information they need (searches, confirming with mortgage company and solicitor of counterparty, sending out necessary paperwork to client etc.)
- They wait a few weeks while all this dripfeeds in.
- They then pick up the file again for a couple of hours when it has all arrived and assess all the information they have gathered. That usually leads to enquiries needing to be made. They send those off, plus any other follow-ups that need to be done.
- They then wait a few weeks while all this dripfeeds in.
- Then they pick up the bundle again for a few hours. Assuming no more enquiries are raised (that can iterate a few times), they brief the client and the mortgage company on it. Sometimes there is a bit of negotiation with the other solicitor that goes on as a result of the various reactions. This is where most of the meaningful interaction with clients happens.
- They then wait a little bit while the last things get sorted out (client sends in funds, mortgage company confirms it will disburse, counterparty solicitor gets client to agree things like indemnity insurances etc.). 
- Then they set an exchange date and get it done.

The point is that they generally don't do a thing with your file most of the time it is with them, because they are waiting for reams of information from third parties, they don't control the timescale and more effort will only speed up a tiny part of it. It's much more efficient to do it all in one go when the last piece dribbles in.

This pattern reflects itself into the way they communicate. They are paid for volume so they take on as many clients as they can at one time. They are practiced at not dealing with things for long periods of time until it suits them. Perhaps they spend a morning a week answering non-urgent client enquiries and forget it the rest of the time. 

I'm not saying it's good practice - I often criticise conveyancers for how they communicate. But there are reasons why they aren't incentivised to be faster.

It's particularly bad at the moment because so many clients are trying to beat the stamp duty deadline.

wherestheremote

princeofpounds said:

Yes they do prioritise. They have a variety of ways of doing so. Yes, they can prioritise based on higher fees and the value of the customer, but there's less of that going on than you might think as the vast majority of clients do not ask for fast-track services. 
 
The clue is in 'prioritising properties that are close to completion' [or rather exchange would be more accurate]. You have to understand a bit about how solicitors work on files. They really don't spend a huge amount of time on any one individual file, barring the odd case that is very complex. 

This is very approximate, but will give you a sense:

- They assess the file when it comes in, and contact all the necessary third parties for whatever information they need (searches, confirming with mortgage company and solicitor of counterparty, sending out necessary paperwork to client etc.)
- They wait a few weeks while all this dripfeeds in.
- They then pick up the file again for a couple of hours when it has all arrived and assess all the information they have gathered. That usually leads to enquiries needing to be made. They send those off, plus any other follow-ups that need to be done.
- They then wait a few weeks while all this dripfeeds in.
- Then they pick up the bundle again for a few hours. Assuming no more enquiries are raised (that can iterate a few times), they brief the client and the mortgage company on it. Sometimes there is a bit of negotiation with the other solicitor that goes on as a result of the various reactions. This is where most of the meaningful interaction with clients happens.
- They then wait a little bit while the last things get sorted out (client sends in funds, mortgage company confirms it will disburse, counterparty solicitor gets client to agree things like indemnity insurances etc.). 
- Then they set an exchange date and get it done.

The point is that they generally don't do a thing with your file most of the time it is with them, because they are waiting for reams of information from third parties, they don't control the timescale and more effort will only speed up a tiny part of it. It's much more efficient to do it all in one go when the last piece dribbles in.

This pattern reflects itself into the way they communicate. They are paid for volume so they take on as many clients as they can at one time. They are practiced at not dealing with things for long periods of time until it suits them. Perhaps they spend a morning a week answering non-urgent client enquiries and forget it the rest of the time. 

I'm not saying it's good practice - I often criticise conveyancers for how they communicate. But there are reasons why they aren't incentivised to be faster.

It's particularly bad at the moment because so many clients are trying to beat the stamp duty deadline.

Thank you. I l appreciate your explanation so much. It’s exactly what I was looking for. 

greatcrested

As Prince says above, though in terms of 'prioritising' I'd add that in most cases they have a pile of files which they deal with in turn, subject to the points prince makes about only dealing with a file when all the required information has been gathered for the next step.

The reason for the frequent disgruntlement is that clients often expect to be informed each time something is received. eg the client may know/find out that Searches have been returned, and expect to be infomed, whereas the solicitor may still be waiting for a different Search, or Enquiries, and will only review the entire file when all have come in.

Repeatedly picking up the file and writing to the client is poor time-management.

The other factor is urgency. If a deal is at a deadline eg Exchange, or Completion, or is about to collapse eg the other side is threatening to withdraw, the solicitor will (to use the Land Registry term) expedite the file.

princeofpounds

Agree with all that greatcrested added, plus he is clearer