Case studies for ConveyanceLink conveyancing case management

Donaldson Dunstall, a Bexhill on Sea based law firm are a specialist private client law firm who have built up a successful business based on recommendations and returning clients.

They started using ConveyanceLink in 2005 and had successfully grown their practice, growing with the program, until early 2009. They decided, following a presentation from another pay per file case management provider, to switch from ConveyanceLink.

Tracey takes up the story: "We received a very slick presentation from another provider, which presented to us a program written by lawyers for lawyers, and it all looked very good. We felt after 4 years of using ConveyanceLink that we could give something else a go and, on reflection, that was a terrible decision."

"The presentation put to us was nothing like the product delivered. The amount of work that was required to get the system up and running despite all their fixed templates was simply ridiculous. The training was poor and the team did not take at all well to the new product. Key to us is ease of use and in reality the program was not easy to use at all, neither was it user friendly. Their system was too restrictive; conveyancing requires you to juggle a lot of balls at once and this system would not allow you to control the process and work on many tasks at once. It definitely made the process more restrictive, less efficient and therefore less profitable for the firm."

"What's more, when we tried to make use of the support line for assistance on using the product, which we only had to do as a result of inadequate training, the help was far from helpful. Everyone alludes to good service, but they certainly did not deliver it, unlike ConveyanceLink."

"Within 3 months we called ConveyanceLink, who were as friendly and helpful as ever, and had a demonstration of their new version. We got their upgraded version installed and have not looked back. ConveyanceLink were entirely understanding of our difficulties and dealt with us as if we had never left."

www.donaldsondunstall.com

When Licensed Conveyancer Alan Hilary first joined Hewitts Ingham, he had but only a couple of cases to start from, and the rest, he built up his now thriving business from scratch. He attributes a large part of his success to ConveyanceLink, an e-conveyancing case management system which in his words, makes "conveyancing enjoyable".

Alan Hilary explains, "Back in 2002 when I first joined the Practice, we didn't have a case management system and it was vital that I had the means to build up the firm's client base and keep on top of my ever increasing client list.

After one demonstration of the ConveyanceLink solution, Hilary knew that this system would be inherent to the practice's success and immediately Hewitts Ingham and ConveyanceLink formed a strong working partnership. This was back in 2003, and 5 years later, the partnership is still going strong today.

The system was quickly installed and Hewitts Ingham were up and running in a matter of days. "The system improved the way we worked entirely and we haven't looked back! We did look at other providers at the time but to be honest none were so comprehensive, competitive in price or indeed so simple to use", said Hilary.

Hilary commented, "We have, and continue to be delighted with the system. We can call up the team whenever we need advice or technical support and thanks to the free upgrades, we can make sure we stay ahead of our competition by offering our customers the latest in e-conveyancing technology."

He goes on to say, "Using the system has cut the time I spend on the phone dealing with queries by as much as 90%. It has sped up transaction times enormously and with all of my personal letter and form precedents set up, I can now run off documents in seconds, meaning I can respond to clients quicker than ever before and I can react faster than my competitors could."

When asked if Alan Hilary would recommend the ConveyanceLink system to other firms, he replied, "I wouldn't want to! I don't want my competitors catching up with me!" Proof in itself that ConveyanceLink has got the edge on all of the other case management systems.

www.hewittsingham.co.uk

Marcus Baum is a well-established legal practice with a good reputation for commercial and residential conveyancing among other disciplines. The business was introduced to ConveyanceLink by a local estate agent who wanted to offer the file tracking facility to his clients early in 2002.

"ConveyanceLink offers a refreshing approach from a software company", says Matthew Clark; partner at Essex based Marcus Baum. "I was so impressed that the online tracking facility is fully integrated into the program, I have received positive feedback from clients and estate agents alike."

"ConveyanceLink installed its e-conveyancing system into the practice in March 2002 and has been used for all residential matters since. Once each new file is given its Unique Property Reference Number, a progress log can be accessed by the client and the estate agent to give a snapshot of the case. Twice a day updates are sent to ConveyanceLink, they update the web system and the whole process takes a matter of seconds - even without broadband."

Marcus Baum does not have an IT department, but the eleven partners and secretaries who use the system simply required basic PC knowledge before being trained on the programme.

Matthew Clark continues: "We wanted to develop an e-conveyancing system for our clients and we were keen to make the department more efficient and profitable. ConveyanceLink has helped us achieve that - we now have full document management, minimal time spent on billing and completion statements and can undertake more work without additional overheads."

www.marcusbaum.co.uk