Lawyer or Licensed Conveyancer?

Until now, you may have not realised there was a difference between Lawyers and Licensed Conveyancers. There is, and it’s a big difference. By asking questions, you can determine for yourself whether you should trust your conveyancing transaction to a lawyer or a conveyancer.

As a firm dedicated to consumer protection and the representation of consumers in conveyancing transactions, we must acknowledge our self-interest in advising you that you should engage us to represent you in your conveyancing matter. Nevertheless, the information on this page is provided openly and honestly, to assist you in making an informed choice for your individual circumstances.

What is the difference between a Conveyancer and a Lawyer?

There are two kinds of conveyancers – lawyer conveyancers and licensed conveyancers.

Licensed Conveyancers are non-lawyers who have been licensed to perform a part of the legal work associated with a real estate transaction, so long as it does not go beyond “conveyancing work” as defined in the Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003.

Lawyer are qualified in the practice is conveyancing. While conveyancers are restricted to performing only “conveyancing work”, lawyer conveyancers are able to perform ALL legal work associated with a conveyancing transaction, including providing legal advice where necessary.

For example, a conveyancer cannot provide a consumer with legal advice about the conduct of an estate agent (e.g. fraud, misrepresentation or criminal deceptions associated with underquoting or overquoting, dummy bidding etc.), and must refer their client to a qualified Lawyer.

Therefore you will receive a higher level of service and legal certainty if you engage a Lawyer to handle your property matter from the beginning, as they will be able to handle your matter in its entirety.

It is openly acknowledged by real estate professionals, including conveyancers, that Lawyers provide the most comprehensive form of legal representation in real estate conveyancing transactions.

If a matter goes beyond simple “conveyancing work”, or involves issues too complex for the conveyancer to handle, the Licensed Conveyancer is duty-bound to refer the client to a qualified Lawyer for further assistance. 

In contrast – a Lawyer will NEVER refer clients to conveyancers, as they are qualified and experienced in handling all matters in their entirety.

Are Licensed Conveyancers cheaper than Lawyers?

In a word, Yes. However, you get what you pay for, and there is an interesting history as to why Licensed Conveyancers have become cheaper and more ‘popular’ than Lawyers when dealing with conveyancing transactions:

Competition between Licensed Conveyancers and Lawyers:

The only honest basis on which Licensed Conveyancers can attract the attention of clients away from Lawyers, is by offering their services for lower fees. However, when comparing price, it is not an apples for apples situation.

It may come as a surprise to many consumers, that the only justification offered for the introduction of Licensed Conveyancers through the Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003, was that Licensed Conveyancers would reduce the price of conveyancing transactions for consumers through competitive pricing. This model works for simple transactions that are within the Licensed Conveyancers’ area of expertise, however whenever a matter becomes more complex and moves beyond conveyancing work, the act requires Licensed Conveyancers to refer the matter to a qualified lawyer to handle, which renders the Licensed Conveyancer an expensive “middle-man” when the total cost of the transaction is tallied at the end. This is something all consumers need to be aware of.

Referrals have corrupted price competition:

You may or may not know, that Licensed Conveyancers pay high “referral fees” to real estate agents for client referrals. Some Licensed Conveyancers are open about this and use this as the primary way to secure new clients, however some are far more secretive about it. One thing is for certain, the cost of “referral payments” is a cost that is inevitably passed onto the consumer, either through higher conveyancing fees, or lower levels of service.

Cash payments are not the only form of “payment” in return for referrals. Many conveyancers receive referrals from real estate agents because they are regarded as “tame”. In other words, they will not bite the hand that feeds them.

While Licensed Conveyancers are limited as to the level of conveyancing service they can offer, the effects of corruption on the level of services offered has also been quite profound. We know of no conveyancing business that will represent a client who makes a complaint about a real estate agent.

So the question you should ask yourself is: Would you prefer a Lawyer who can act solely on your behalf and in your best interest?

Who has the highest level of professional indemnity insurance?

Professional Indemnity Insurance covers a professional for carelessness or negligence in the performance of professional tasks.

While a Lawyer’s Professional Indemnity Insurance provides cover for EVERYTHING the Lawyer does on the client’s behalf, a Licenced Conveyancer is only covered for “conveyancing work”. This creates a massive problem for Licensed Conveyancers as it placed them in a Catch 22 situation:

In order to ensure their clients are protected, Licensed Conveyancers must not perform any legal work that goes beyond “conveyancing work” as defined in the Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003. The reason for this is that Licensed Conveyancers do not have the legal training, qualifications or experience to perform anything beyond simply “conveyancing work”. But – how is a conveyancer to know where the simple “conveyancing work” ends and other legal work commences if they do not have the legal training to determine the difference? Unfortunately, for the clients of the Licensed Conveyancer, the answer to this question may not be known until the Licensed Conveyancer’s Professional Indeminity insurer refuses to pay on a claim.

What support is available if things become complicated?

What happens when the wheels well and truly fall off in a conveyancing matter, and the other side threatens legal action? Most Licensed Conveyancers panic, and tell the client to “obtain legal advice from a lawyer”, dumping the problem in the ‘too hard basket’ and the client along with it. This can add a huge amount of stress to an already high stress situation.

Lawyers, on the other hand, have a network of highly experienced and fully qualified Senior Lawyers and Barristers that they can call upon to assist with any issue that comes to hand. A Lawyer will facilitate this for you, and support you through the issue, so that you’re not left hanging to solve the problem yourself.

Knowing when an issue is serious and when it’s not:

Imagine a conveyancing transaction where everything is running to plan and to schedule, and then suddenly a letter arrives alleging a serious breach of the law and the intention of the other party to cancel the contract. A Licensed Conveyancer has to decide immediately as to whether this is outside their remit, and whether their client must be told to obtain legal advice from a qualified Lawyer.

However, a Lawyer will read the letter, assess the situation first and then determine whether or not the alleged breach has sufficient legal merit to be of concern. (Note: not all breaches of the law or contract have serious consequences, so it pays to have someone able to see through the hype and assess the situation quickly and calmly on your behalf).

When it comes to legal disputes, knowledge is power, and a well worded letter from a qualified Lawyer who has researched the issues and has the benefit of advice from a barrister, can solve problems before they get out of hand.

Licensed Conveyancers have no-one to ask:

Before the introduction of the Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003, a large number of non-lawyer conveyancers used to falsely promote themselves as “lawyer supervised” or “lawyer consulted for all legal work”, to indicate to potential clients that they could consult a lawyer for assistance if the matter became too complicated. In fact, the Licenced Conveyancer’s reference to a “supervising lawyer” simply meant that the conveyancer had engaged a lawyer to protect the conveyancer from his or her own clients. Meaning, if the conveyancer made a mistake, their “supervising lawyer” would advise them to cease acting for their client and to say nothing that would harm the conveyancer’s defence in case they were later sued.

Licensed Conveyancers now operating under the Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003, are not permitted to pretend that a lawyer is available for their client’s behalf. If the matter becomes too complicated, or the conveyancer discovers that the matter is moving beyond simple “conveyancing work”, the conveyancer must advise their client to engage a fully qualified lawyer. However, this creates further problems similar to those associated with real estate agent referrals and conflicts of interest.

Lawyers on the other hand, are expected to have an understanding of ALL areas of law likely to impact on any conveyancing transaction. Lawyers are also skilled in legal research, so that even new legislation can be quickly assessed and dealt with by the lawyer without the need to refer the matter to others.

Lawyers have access to senior lawyers and barristers:

A barrister is a lawyer whose full-time role is to represent clients in court. Barristers operate in a manner similar to medical specialists, and a consumer cannot access the services of a barrister unless a specialist referral has been made by a qualified lawyer. It is the lawyer’s role to identify the legal issues arising from the client’s matter, and to provide the barrister with an overview of the problem. The barrister than provides specialist advice as to whether the matter should proceed to court, or be dealt with by alternative means.

Using a barrister for specialist advice allows the client to determine whether or not it is worthwhile pursuing or defending a matter. Early involvement of a barrister can often save thousands of dollars, particularly if litigation can be avoided entirely.

The only way a client of a Licensed Conveyancer can access the services of a barrister is to have the client engage a qualified Lawyer. Again, this renders the licensed conveyancer an expensive “middle-man”, as the client is always better off if a Lawyer is engaged in the first place.