By Anne-Marie Fowler, Managing Director, Priory Law
Earlier this month I joined the Conveyancing Association’s All-Member Meeting in Liverpool, Nick Chadbourne’s first as Chair. Nick has since shared his own reflections on the day and I wanted to add a few of mine.
An honest room
It was a full room, and an honest one. We covered a lot of ground: Sales Packs, property reform, source of funds checks, client money, mental health and staff wellbeing. People challenged ideas and spoke openly about what’s making their working lives harder.
I came away grateful to have been part of it. I also came away with something I didn’t quite expect: more clarity than I’ve ever had about the way we work at Priory Law.
Happy team, happy clients
Listening to other firms talk so openly, I kept coming back to something I believe very strongly. The way a firm looks after its people shapes the way it looks after its clients.
Our team is genuinely happy, and we don’t take that for granted. In this year’s independent staff survey (run by a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD), some of our strongest results were “I feel supported with my wellbeing” and “I can maintain work-life balance”. That comes from balanced caseloads, a buddy for every new colleague, and treating wellbeing as part of how we plan the work.
It shows in how we look after clients. We pick up the phone, take the time to look after each and every file, and make sure our clients know exactly who is looking after their move. That might sound old-fashioned, but it only works when the people doing it are well supported.
And it’s supported by the newest tools
The part I find most exciting is how well that care sits alongside exceptional technology. The tools don’t replace it. They give us more time for it.
We use specialist AI platforms, such as Orbital and LawY within Leap, and great tech such as ProConvey, Armalytix, Ngine and Forsyte to support our team in the best way. We invest in property tech to remove the repetitive work, so the team can be upskilled and get more exposure, experience and mentorship.
What we do with the time that gives us back is important. Rather than cramming in more files, more clients and more chaos, we give it back to clients. That lets the team give clients what they want: advice, conversations and attention at the moment they most need to feel supported and cared for.
That means more conversations, more careful thinking and more people who aren’t working under a weight that never lifts.
To me, that is what forward thinking looks like in conveyancing. It isn’t technology instead of people. It’s enabling technology that gives people the time to do the human part properly.
Shaping what comes next
One of Nick’s points really resonated with me. Reform has to work in practice, which means conveyancers need to help shape it from the start.
I agree. And I think part of that conversation is about the kind of firms we want to build. We certainly don’t have every answer, and I learned a lot from the people in that room. But I’d be glad to share what’s working for us, just as I want to keep learning from others.
Looking ahead to the Conveyancing Association conference
Nick finished by inviting everyone, members or not, to tell him what’s working and what isn’t. I’ll be taking him up on that. I’m also looking forward to the Conveyancing Association conference in Birmingham in February, under the theme Conveyancing Reclaimed: The Voice of Conveyancers. I hope that voice has room for both the old and the new: the care that’s always mattered, and the tools that let us give more of it.
About Anne-Marie Fowler
Anne-Marie Fowler is the Managing Director of Priory Law and a qualified Licensed Conveyancer. Her career spans estate agency, lettings, block management and residential conveyancing, a breadth that gives her a fuller picture of the property transaction than most conveyancers carry.
She qualified in 2015 while working full-time and raising two children. Since then, she has built Priory Law around a clear conviction: that conveyancing should be done differently. Managed caseloads. Proper supervision. Genuine transparency. A personal approach that takes seriously what moving home actually means to people.
Anne-Marie is a regular voice in industry conversations, including within the Conveyancing Association, about AI, risk and professional standards in conveyancing
About Priory Law
Priory Law is a specialist residential conveyancing firm acting for clients across England and Wales. Regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC Licence Number 12134), the firm offers a structured, transparent and personal alternative to high-volume conveyancing. Every transaction is handled by a dedicated conveyancer, with clear communication and a process designed to stay in control from instruction to completion.
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