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While fierce competition has pushed many conveyancers to keep their fees low, Renee Roumanos is urging practitioners to rethink the race to the bottom and recognise the value – and risk – attached to the work they do.
Speaking on a recent episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, Renee Roumanos, principal of Renee Roumanos Legal, urged conveyancers to move away from the mindset that keeping fees low is necessary to remain competitive, arguing that the risks attached to their work warrant a different approach to pricing.
In the same episode, she outlined the mounting challenges confronting the conveyancing sector, warning that growing regulatory obligations, evolving client expectations, and increasingly complex legal risks are fundamentally transforming the profession and redefining the role of practitioners.
Roumanos argued that conveyancers shoulder some of the greatest legal liability in multimillion-dollar property transactions, yet are often expected to do so for a fraction of the fees commanded by the agents, brokers, and even stylists involved in the deal.
“My belief is that conveyancing is one of the highest-risk areas of law, and it should be charged accordingly,” she said.
“Someone is spending millions of dollars on a property, and the real estate agent gets paid 20–30 grand. The broker gets paid five, ten thousand dollars. The stylist bringing in the pillows and the cushions and the new artwork on the wall gets paid five grand.
“But all of a sudden, the person who carries the highest amount of liability and risk is expected to charge $2,000 with a fixed fee.”
When millions of dollars are on the line, she warned that clients chasing the cheapest conveyancer risk overlooking the expertise and protection they need to navigate the transaction safely.
“I think it’s absolutely insane because someone who’s buying a $1 million or $2 million property should not be looking for the cheapest person to represent them. But unfortunately, that is what is happening,” she said.
With property transactions carrying significant financial and legal risks, Roumanos urged clients to look beyond price and prioritise the expertise, experience and protection needed to navigate the deal with confidence.
“No matter how sophisticated our client is, the unforeseen and the unfortunate side is that they’re looking for the cheapest, which is completely the wrong way to do it,” she said.
“When you’re buying property or selling property, the risk is really high. You want the best person looking after you. We’re not just dealing with the property. We’re dealing with all these other things that are in the space.”
The issue, however, extends far beyond conveyancers simply wanting to charge more.
As property fraud becomes increasingly sophisticated, Roumanos warned that conveyancers are firmly in the crosshairs of cyber criminals because of the large sums of money moving through their systems, with even established practices potentially vulnerable to a breach within minutes.
“Right now, property lawyers are at risk because there is so much property fraud that is happening where these fraudsters are actually targeting sophisticated property lawyers and conveyancers to try and get into their systems,” she said.
“The scams are so sophisticated that regular cyber security is insufficient. The scary part is that within five minutes, someone’s system can be breached, and 7,000 emails can be sent out.”
She stressed that it can take just one convincing email to prompt a client into transferring a substantial sum of money, potentially triggering a six-figure loss.
“All of a sudden, it takes one client to receive an email that looks and feels like it is their lawyer and says, ‘Hi, can you transfer 100 grand to the bank account of George?’” she said.
“And all of a sudden, clients have done it because they haven’t picked up the phone because they trust their lawyer, and they’ve received this email.”
The growing threat, Roumanos argued, means conveyancing practices need to treat cyber security and technology as essential investments rather than optional overheads – another factor she believes should be reflected in their fees.
“They need to have the highest level of technology than any other lawyer in the space because of the nature of what we do and how we’re transacting money every single day,” she said.
“So, yes, I think property lawyers and conveyancers need to charge a hell of a lot more than what they are currently charging.”
