Last purchase our actually conveyancer was at least seemingly competent, but it was the middle of silly season, and it was hugely apparent that everything that went out had been drafted by an assistant/trainee and not properly supervised, which meant we had to proof read every line of everything, then forward it back to her (named conveyancer) for amendments. Anything that actually made it in front of her was dealt with expeditiously and sensibly, but only at the firefighting stage, which was annoying.
Conveyancers do seem to like the essay crisis model. Put a trainee / paralegal on the file to keep it warm / play tennis with the other side, then the experienced lawyer steps in a day before exchange to fix everything.
Last purchase our actually conveyancer was at least seemingly competent, but it was the middle of silly season, and it was hugely apparent that everything that went out had been drafted by an assistant/trainee and not properly supervised, which meant we had to proof read every line of everything, then forward it back to her (named conveyancer) for amendments. Anything that actually made it in front of her was dealt with expeditiously and sensibly, but only at the firefighting stage, which was annoying.