Simpler House-Buying: Joint Venture for Conveyancing Portal

READING, England, July 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

The Law Society has announced a joint venture with Mastek UK Limited, a leading global IT solutions company, to deliver the Conveyancing Portal. The Conveyancing Portal is an online service that will help solicitors and licensed conveyancers save money and will speed up the house buying process for consumers.

     (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140704/694783 )

Law Society deputy vice president Jonathan Smithers said: "The Portal will make it easier for conveyancing professionals to better serve the house buying public. In its first phase the system will allow professionals to better communicate with each other, clients and other parties, satisfy due diligence obligations more quickly and at lower cost  and facilitate the conveyance of residential property through established protocols.

"Mastek UK Limited was chosen as our partner in a joint venture following a rigorous research, development and negotiation process. This project has the potential to transform the way conveyancing works, so it was imperative that we found a partner with a strong track record in delivering secure, reliable IT projects for high profile clients."

Mastek Limited is a multinational information technology services company with a presence in the US, Canada, UK, India and Asia-Pacific.

"Our partnership with the Law Society is an innovative approach that will empower conveyancing professionals with next-generation IT services," said Sudhakar Ram, managing director and group CEO at Mastek Limited. "This strategic alliance is in line with Mastek's vision of delivering transformational IT solutions that positively benefit the wider community with operational agility and significant savings in operating costs."

Benefits of the Portal include:

• Providing both small and large firms with a simple tool to help the house-buying process;
• Allowing smaller firms to use technically advanced platforms only normally available to larger more technologically enabled firms, and enable solicitors as a profession, to maintain the highest standards;
• Strengthening risk management and compliance, and therefore reducing fraud.

The Law Society and Mastek have set up a joint venture company called Legal Practice Technologies Ltd and the joint venture company will launch its testing programme later this year and will be seeking a wide range of participants to test usability of the services prior to full launch.

Notes to editors 

On launch day, the following features will be part of the package available to members:

• Case management within the Portal: Centralised management of a conveyancing matter into a 'case' containing information, documents and decisions. Cases can be securely archived and recalled when required. Case management will be separate to any internal systems operating within a firm in the first release.

• Workflows integrated with case management: Complies with the Law Society's Conveyancing Protocol and the requirements of the CML, CLC and SRA Handbooks. Checklists, notifications and alerts. Forms will be automatically completed to avoid any re-keying if data has been previously entered (e.g. for Land Registry searches, ID checks, templates). The ability to manage tasks and share work within a team. Basic reporting of information to help you manage workflow (e.g. time spent on each matter by each user)

• Secure, immediate and auditable communication with the buyer/seller's conveyancer: Communication tools to facilitate easier discussion with an audit trail that both parties can see.

• Client access: Clients can access a secure area where they can communicate with their conveyancer and submit their own documents.

• Online contract negotiation and exchange: The contract bundle can be created and securely shared and jointly worked upon online with the other party, subject to client confidentiality. An audit of all changes, copies of versions and approvals will be captured as part of the case.

• Verification of "the other side": Verification of individuals within the Portal Directory, Access to Find-a-Solicitor and the Find-a-Licensed Conveyancer. Verification of client account.

• AML checks: Searches will be performed online with the option of using your own account in compliance with the Law Society's Anti-Money Laundering practice note.

• Chain view: For conveyancing matters managed via the Portal, parties can view the length of the chain, key milestones and related property information. There will be the ability to invite non-Portal users to contribute to, and benefit from, the chain view.

• Searches (not integrated): The ability to upload relevant information onto the case. Searches will be conducted outside of the Portal for the first release.

• HMRC (not integrated): The ability to upload relevant information onto the case. HMRC transactions will be conducted outside of the Portal for the first release.

About Mastek 

A global, enterprise-level technology solutions provider, Mastek combines the strengths of a world class product company with a specialist services organisation. We utilise agile methodologies that deliver early business value and enable organisations to adapt to dynamically transforming IT environments. Our core IT services portfolio covers application development, service management and testing, maintenance, IT consulting, systems integration, mobility, data warehousing, business intelligence and analytics.

Mastek has over three decades of extensive experience specialising in government, retail, insurance and healthcare sectors. Our flexible delivery model, which blends onsite and offshore implementation, coupled with a collaborative culture makes us a trusted partner to our customers. With 19 offices in eight countries, Mastek operates across the UK, Europe, the US, Canada, Asia-Pacific and Middle East. For further information, please visit: http://www.mastek.co.uk

About the Law Society 

The Law Society is the independent professional body, established for solicitors in 1825, that works globally to support and represent its members, promoting the highest professional standards and the rule of law. For further information please visit: http://www.lawsociety.org.uk