There are many ways to start a career in law. However, one of the best entry points, that is often overlooked, is as a conveyancing secretary. As not many people know what a conveyancing secretary is, we will try to shed some light on this profession.
A conveyancing secretary is a legal secretary who specialises in conveyancing. Conveyancing is the branch of law that deals with the documentation for transferring ownership of property, registration and cancellation of bonds and other duties related to the transfer of property. Conveyancing secretaries work in the offices of conveyancers (property solicitors) and help to ensure that their projects run smoothly.
What do conveyancing secretaries do?
Broadly speaking, a conveyancing secretary works to support the conveyancer in their duties. This can range from administrative support, doing basic office work and organisation, to acting as the conveyancer’s right hand in a more in-depth coordinating role. The scope of these responsibilities varies depending on factors like how the firm is structured, how complex the purchase is, the checks that are required, and the experience and/or skills of the conveyancing secretary. To learn how to perform all these duties, do a course for conveyancing secretaries.
While responsibilities may vary, there are some aspects of the conveyancing process that a conveyancing secretary is likely to handle. These aspects are as follows.
Administrative work
The conveyancing process involves a great deal of paperwork, documentation, and administration that must be carried out to ensure the legality and viability of the purchase process. It falls to the conveyancer to draw up and check contracts, settlement statements, mortgage offers, and other legal documents so that they can analyse and verify the checks needed on a property before a transfer of ownership.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of the conveyancing secretary to support the conveyancer with this administrative work. This is done by compiling, verifying, and summarising the gathered information, and keeping clients up to date before the final confirmation of the purchase. This usually involves a lot of phone calls and email correspondence as well as scanning and photocopying, to gather all the information that the conveyancer needs.
Client liaison
Purchasing a property involves a lot of moving parts, with many people that have stakes in the process. This includes the buyer, the seller, both parties’ legal teams and estate agents, contractors and tradespeople, local councils and government bodies, and more. A conveyancing secretary communicates with all parties involved, keeping them up to date and managing their expectations for timescale, outcomes, and progress.
A conveyancing secretary is sometimes the first point of contact for the clients of the conveyancer therefore they spend a lot of their time answering queries, taking phone calls, and sharing information with all of these stakeholders. This helps to support the conveyancer as it frees up their time to focus on the task at hand. With everyone kept up to date, the conveyancer can identify potential problems early on and resolve them quickly.
What you need to become a conveyancing secretary
Junior conveyancing secretaries earn an average annual salary of R162 000 and senior conveyancing secretaries earn up to R300 000 per year. Therefore, many people are eager to begin their careers as conveyancing secretaries. The question is where do you start?
To become a conveyancing secretary, you need to obtain a conveyancing certificate to show you have the knowledge required to take part in the conveyancing process. There are many courses that offer this certification, however, one that stands a cut above the rest is the ‘Conveyancing for secretaries (Paralegals)’ course offered by the Gawie le Roux Institute of Law.
This course set the industry standard for paralegal training in conveyancing in 1999. With three levels to this certification and various options of instruction, including self-study, or online lectures. This course will give you general background knowledge and cover aspects of conveyancing like agreements of sale, deeds of transfer, and transfer procedures. This is just at level one.
This course is compiled and presented by a senior conveyancing consultant, as there is no one better to teach you the tricks of the trade. This course will teach you everything you need to know to launch your career and succeed as a conveyancing secretary in South Africa.