The Climate Change Debate

Love it or loathe it, climate change appears to be here to stay following the release of guidance from The Law Society on the role of legal services in providing consumers with information. And it is the subject of this latest Today's Conveyancer podcast as host David Opie is joined by Groundsure CEO Dan Montagnani, Bold Legal Group CEO Rob Hailstone, and Head of Property at Dutton Gregory Paul Sams. Through the course of the discussion each of the contributors shares their thoughts on what the climate change guidance means for conveyancers in the absence of sector specific guidance which we await, and/or a practice note.Alongside the discussion, Today's Conveyancer ran a survey to find out what the sentiment is amongst conveyancers around the guidance and their role in supporting home movers better understand the longer term risks brought about by climate change. There were over 100 responses to the question "what will be your approach as a firm or practitioner with regard to how you engage your clients?" revealing;35% of respondents will proactively report on any climate risks identified in search reports and use tools including standard clauses to help explain the risk to clients9% will report to clients on climate risk only when a risk is identified by a search report18% will let the client decide on whether this is a material risk to the property transaction and evidence this to reduce risk to the practice25% do not intend to report on climate change issues to clientsThe issue seems to hinge on the qualification of lawyers to provide such advice to clients and both Paul and Rob acknowledge there is yet another element of scope or mission creep with the issue as responsibility for reporting on it, which should be in everyone's interests and remit, falls squarely on the conveyancer's shoulders. In an entertaining discussion the three discuss whether climate change is something that the conveyancing community should be pushing back on, or whether it's part of the new breed of conveyancer whose role it is to be a conduit for this sort of information and hand hold home movers much more. The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack