Case study: Lightfoots Solicitors

Lauren Blake joined the award-winning firm Lightfoots Solicitors in 2018 to head up the Ethics and Compliance Department, responsible for ensuring firm-wide compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements.  Lightfoots uses Lawyer Checker to individually verify the solicitors’ account details for large transaction sums such as those involved in conveyancing.

Supporting the market for over a decade, the Lawyer Checker solution is now delivered by Dye & Durham’s Insight & Data Team, a consolidation of experts versed in providing expert due diligence products to clients throughout the sector. Over the years, Lawyer Checker has become a well-known and trusted product within the conveyancing sector, most recently, helping firms to protect their clients against conveyancing fraud in some of the most challenging times ever experienced. With a dramatic rise in scam alerts of almost a third in the past year, Lawyer Checker helps firms mitigate risk.

Lauren Blake, Head of Ethics & Compliance, Lightfoots Solicitors explains: “Lawyer Checker is a critical fraud control that protects individual clients/customers and ourselves, from fraudsters posing as a conveyancing firm.

“This type of fraud is increasingly common. Cyber criminals either take on the identity of an individual at another law firm or can impersonate the whole firm, and it’s a significant risk for conveyancers transferring transaction funds between organisations.”

Insight & Data team’s analysis of the SRA’s 2021 issued scam alerts has shown, 91% of all alerts related to some sort of impersonation.

Lauren Blake continues: “We are an SRA regulated firm, we are also accredited by the Law Society Conveyancing Quality Scheme and our PI Insurance protocols plus our lenders all require multiple client account verification methods before sending funds to solicitors. As well as mitigating risk, Lawyer Checker offers us the anti-fraud measures we need to comply with in order to complete a purchase. 

“For us, Lawyer Checker offers a proactive, transparent solution which gives us the comfort to proceed with our naturally higher risk transactions.”

Lawyer Checker validates the destination details of the recipient bank account of the solicitor receiving funds for property transactions. It’s a secure, web-based solution that can be accessed from any location 24/7 at the click of a mouse, supplying an audit trail for law firms as well as ensuring due diligence by adhering to the SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors (SCCS) 4.2 - to safeguard client money and assets.

Lawyer Checker’s unique algorithm checks details against ten different databases in real time. It checks SRA scam alerts and helps safeguard transactions against human error and typos while also providing the most up to date information.  Included in the report are two searches: one which is usually completed at the start of the conveyancing process, plus a further check just before the funds are transferred, uniquely ensuring there have been no changes during the course of the conveyance. 

Lauren Blake continues: “Onboarding with Lawyer Checker was very smooth. It’s easy to use, obvious and comprehensive. Training was quick to get going and now fee earners at Lightfoots can conduct searches with ease. New starters have also found it simple to use.

“If any red flags detailed as ‘unknown’ or ‘infrequent’ results are returned by the Insight & Data team, our staff can refer the report to our Ethics and Compliance department to review and approve. The Lawyer Checker reports are easy to follow, so it means we can revert back to the fee earner quickly with an informed decision.

“We believe it is important to communicate to our clients/customers how we protect their funds for their peace of mind. Therefore, our firm’s use of Lawyer Checker will be detailed in the firm’s Code of Ethics which is due to be published on our website shortly.

“Lawyer Checker has become even more important to us lately, following the increased risk of cyber fraud due to the Pandemic. Lawyer Checker was the only solution which we found that had a research team behind it, returning comprehensive reports. With the set up and ease of use for our conveyancers, enabling them to verify the accounts of solicitors and mitigate risk for every transaction, Lawyer Checker is a no-brainer for us.”

For further information please see: www.lawyerchecker.co.uk or www.lightfoots.co.uk