LPL, a division of Read Roper & Read Solicitors, has been providing legal services to the public since 1875. Based in Manchester, the award-winning LPL aims to exceed customer expectations at every stage of the transaction and provide stress-free conveyancing services for its clients.
The specialist conveyancing firm has used Dye & Durham’s Lawyer Checker solution since 2017 to help protect clients’ funds for every sizable transaction.
Lawyer Checker quickly and easily verifies the bank account details of solicitors receiving funds for transactions using a unique algorithm that checks against 10 different databases in real time. It integrates with Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) scam alerts and safeguards transactions against human error and typos. Lawyer Checker’s reports are low-cost, and can be attributed as a disbursement to assure clients that their funds are protected against cyber fraud and impersonation during a transaction.
Over the years, Lawyer Checker has become an integral part of LPL’s systems and controls.
“Our team of lawyers manage thousands of property transactions each year and Lawyer Checker offers our clients peace of mind that their money is protected from fraudulent attempts to intercept them at completion,” says Louise Stephens-Pantoja, Head of Operations LPL.
Louise Stephens-Pantoja
“Lawyer Checker enables us to verify the identity of a receiving firm in seconds, so it’s a simple process to ensure due diligence. On the rare occasion any issues are flagged, it is easy for us to double check and take action to resolve the query.”
A Lawyer Checker assessment is included in every file completed by the LPL case handler, which is then handed to the company’s compliance team for final sign-off.
“Files don’t get sign-off if they don’t contain Lawyer Checker verification. It means there are several points throughout the process to ensure verification, mitigating risk of cyber fraud,” says Louise Stephens-Pantoja. “Because Lawyer Checker forms part of our system, it means clients have increased assurance that everything will proceed as it should during their transactions.”
The cost-effective Lawyer Checker shows as a disbursement as part of the firm’s overall fixed fee so clients can see precisely what they’re paying for when they receive their invoice, she adds.
In 2022, Lawyer Checker was integrated with LPL’s CRM system Hoowla, meaning all solutions are in one place and verifying firms’ details is faster.
“It’s made a simple process even easier, saving us time and further increasing our efficiency,” says Louise Stephens-Pantoja.
The LPL team has adopted a hybrid working model to suit individual team members, with some working full-time or part-time from the Manchester office while some work remotely from as far afield as London and Birmingham.
“Remote work means critical systems and communication must have the same level of security as they would if the whole team worked from a central office,” says Louise Stephens-Pantoja. “Because of the rise in fraudulent activity in the market over the past decade, we wanted to ensure the integration with Lawyer Checker and our CRM system had the same high level of security as the rest of our IT systems.”
Those efforts were successful, adding further layers of protection for LPL clients
“We highly recommended Lawyer Checker,” says Louise Stephens-Pantoja. “It’s simple, fast and offers a best practice solution to protect clients’ money as part of a firm’s systems and controls.”
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