2024 and all eyes turn to the CA Annual Conference & Charity Dinner

We’re here at last. 2024 has started and, even just a few weeks in, there appears to be a more positive feel to this year, certainly in terms of house buying and selling activity, and hopefully this positivity can be translated into growing levels of work for all conveyancers.

The start of the new year means we are just a few weeks away from our Annual Conference & Dinner in Manchester on the 6^th February, and I hope you will forgive me if I concentrate on what is the main event in our calendar, bringing together our member firms, our Affiliate Members, our sponsors, and all manner of other stakeholders within our industry.

This year’s Conference & Dinner is Headline sponsored by Landmark Information Group, while PEXA are the Event Sponsor, and Conveyancing Data Services are the Headline Dinner Sponsor.

We’ve just recently nailed down the full Conference Agenda, which you can find here, but I just wanted to highlight a number of presentations and sessions which I believe will be of great interest to our membership.

First up, we’ve announced Kate Faulkner OBE as our keynote speaker. Kate will be very familiar to many conveyancers and has played a leading role in improving the home buying and selling process. She will be providing a broad Property Market and Economic Forecast presentation covering off many issues that I’m sure will be pertinent to all.

Our Conference is entitled ‘Moving in the Digital Age’ and as you might anticipate we have a number of sessions which look at the digital and technology solutions that are already playing a major role in the conveyancing process, but which are likely to figure even more prominently in the months and years ahead.

We have Rob Gurney (Ochresoft) and Chris Loaring (Landmark) presenting on digitisation and automation, plus Rob will then host a panel session looking at the top considerations for conveyancing firms in adopting technology, what it can achieve, the benefits it can bring, but also the pitfalls to be aware of.

Angela Hesketh (PEXA) will chart the future and debunk some technology myths while Andrew Lloyd (also of PEXA) will also look at automation and how it provides conveyancers with the opportunity to move them into trusted advisor status.

This year, we are also ‘breaking out’ within the Conference session with four specific Discussion Groups which will be repeated during the morning and the afternoon, allowing attendees to attend more than one.

The focus for those Discussion Groups are: Future Vision Digital Conveyancing – Lauren Watson (UKLTA); Delivery of Material Information from Upfront Information – Emma Cooke (NTSELAT); Digital Signatures and source of funds – Beth Rudolf (CA); and Workplace issues including Menopause at Work – Nicola Green (Nicola Green Consultancy), LGBTQ+ – Mark Slade (Fidler and Pepper); Training – Geoff Hall (Gordon Brown Law), and Employment – Natalie Moore (A Conveyancing).

As always, we will have a packed Exhibitor Hall with a large number of sponsors all present and there to network with you, answer your questions, and outline the products and services they offer.

This year we have: Compare My Move, Orbital Witness, Perfect Portal, Post Partner, Armalytix, Dye & Durham UK, Coadjute, Reallmoving, inCase, Thirdfort, Lexis Visualfiles, DUAL Asset, InfoTrack, Redbrick Solutions, Legal Eye, and Howden.

After the Conference closes, there will be time for a quick wash and brush-up, before our Drinks Reception, followed by our Charity Dinner and then some live music and a DJ to bring proceedings to a wonderful close.

It is called a Charity Dinner for a reason, and we will be raising money for The Children’s Society – all contributions and donations gratefully received.

In case you were still unaware, the Conference and Dinner is open to all CA member firms, legal and affiliate, and attendance can also be secured for legal firms that are non-members for a charge. Registration remains open and is available here.

We are really looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible on the 6^th February in Manchester. If you have yet to register, please do. This is one of those opportunities not to be missed and a rare chance for us to all be together in one place to discuss the future of conveyancing and how firms can thrive within it.

Nicky Heathcote is Non-Executive Chair at the Conveyancing Association (CA)