AI coworker

An AI coworker for solicitors in Scotland

In a Scottish solicitors' firm, the legal judgement is not what fills most of the week. What fills it is the work around the matter: a terms-of-business letter that has not been acknowledged, identity documents still outstanding, a client asking where things have got to, a survey or source-of-funds pack that is holding up missives, an application sitting with Registers of Scotland.

None of those messages is difficult. Together they keep fee-earners on the chase, instead of with clients.

Lorework is an AI coworker for that work. It works through the web systems you already use, on its own computer. This page is written for firms in Scotland, where the rules, the documents and the conveyancing path are their own.

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Client onboarding is a written start, not a verbal one

The Law Society of Scotland's Rule B4 on client communication requires solicitors, when tendering for business or at the earliest practical opportunity after receiving instructions, to give the client certain information in writing: an outline of the work, an estimate of the total fee or the basis on which the fee will be charged (including VAT and outlays), who will principally do the work, who the client should contact if they are concerned, and how to complain to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission if that person cannot resolve the concern.

The Society's Standards of Service make the same point in plainer language. Solicitors should send a letter as soon as possible after the first instruction covering the work, the fees or the basis of charge, who will do the work, and who to speak to if the client is unhappy. The standards also expect a letter of engagement, or its equivalent, that clearly explains the service, how the work will be carried out, who is responsible, and the cost. The Society's own glossary of property terms calls this written communication at the outset the terms of business.

That letter is not optional padding. It is the start of the file. The admin around it is the chase when it has not been acknowledged, or when a later change in scope means the information has to go out again.

ID checks and source of funds sit on the same front of the file

For much of a firm's work — including buying and selling property, and managing client money — the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 bring the practice within scope for anti-money-laundering duties. The Law Society of Scotland is the AML supervisor for firms whose registered office is in Scotland, and it points members to HM Treasury-approved Legal Sector Affinity Group (LSAG) guidance.

The Society's AML FAQs are clear that customer due diligence includes identifying and verifying the client, typically from an identification document and proof of address, and that source of funds means more than knowing the money came from a UK bank account. It means understanding how and from where the client got the money for this transaction — for example savings from employment, or a gift — with evidence in line with the risk. Source of wealth, meaning the origin of the client's wider assets, is required as part of enhanced due diligence for politically exposed persons and should be considered in other higher-risk cases.

Those professional judgements stay with the firm. The bottleneck is familiar: a purchase cannot move while a passport copy, a proof of address, or a set of bank statements is still outstanding. The reminder, the log of what has arrived, and the chase for what has not, are the repetitive admin.

Matter updates are a professional duty, including when nothing has moved

The same Standards of Service put communication among the overriding principles. Solicitors must communicate clearly, effectively and in plain language, and keep clients informed regularly about progress. They should agree the means and frequency of communication, advise the client of any significant development, and explain matters clearly enough for the client to make informed decisions. Information should be confirmed in writing where necessary. Diligence includes responding to letters, emails and telephone calls within an appropriate or agreed timescale, and providing updates on progress.

That duty does not pause when the file is waiting on someone else. A client who has not heard anything since the terms of business went out will still ask. The expensive version of the duty is a fee-earner writing the same "we are still waiting on X" note from memory. The cheaper version is a consistent update, in the firm's usual words, when an agreed check comes around or when a significant development actually happens.

Conveyancing chasers: missives, then Registers of Scotland

In a Scottish house purchase or sale, the contract is the missives. The Law Society's glossary defines missives as the contract between buyer and seller — the offer, the qualified acceptance, and any subsequent formal letters exchanged by their solicitors — and "concluding missives" as putting that contract in place. Settlement is when the price is paid in return for the title deeds and the keys. The disposition is the title deed that transfers the property.

The Society's guidance on avoidance of delay in concluding missives (last reviewed 16 March 2022) says it is common, in residential transactions, for missives to remain unconcluded until shortly before or even at the date of entry. Solicitors acting for purchasers and sellers nonetheless have a professional duty to conclude missives without undue delay, and clients should be advised of that duty and of the consequences. If there is a delay, the reason should be disclosed to the solicitor on the other side as soon as reasonably practicable. Typical reasons on a purchaser's side include the client's own house not yet being sold, a survey or specialist report, or funding still to be confirmed.

After settlement, the title still has to be registered. Registers of Scotland describes four stages for a Land Register application: a basic examination (application form, fee and deeds — a one-day stage), categorisation as standard or complex, a plans examination, and a legal requirements check. Standard applications are usually completed within 35 working days. Complex applications can take up to six months. Applications can be rejected at any stage. When the application completes, Registers of Scotland sends an email with a link to the title sheet and an extract of the cadastral map.

The chases in that path are specific: a qualified acceptance still unanswered, a survey or mortgage offer still outstanding, a client who has not sent source-of-funds evidence, a date of entry that needs confirming, an application that has been submitted and a client who wants to know how long registration usually takes. None of that is a substitute for the conveyancing itself.

What an AI coworker does in a Scottish firm

Your team works with Lorework in chat. You can require approval before it writes or submits anything. Follow-ups, checks and matter updates can run as scheduled, recurring tasks.

Typical starting bottlenecks in a Scottish firm are:

• The terms-of-business or letter of engagement at the start of a matter, and the chase if it has not been acknowledged.
• Reminders for outstanding identity documents or source-of-funds evidence, before the file is allowed to move.
• Regular matter updates, including when the file is still waiting on a third party.
• Conveyancing chasers: missives points, surveys, funding, and a clear note to the client once an application has gone to Registers of Scotland.
• Recurring checks, such as the Monday sweep of matters that have gone quiet.

Lorework does not give legal advice, draft or conclude missives, submit applications to Registers of Scotland, complete customer due diligence, or make a professional judgement on a file. Those stay with the firm. It takes on the admin around that work.

How you teach it the way your firm works

You do not have to write a technical specification. Your team teaches Lorework your procedures and templates, in chat, the way you would brief a new starter — an onboarding reminder, a matter update, a conveyancing chase. You can ask it in chat, or set recurring work on a schedule.

It works in the web systems you already use, on its own computer. There is no need to rip out the practice systems you already run.

How a firm starts

Start with one routine job, such as an onboarding chase or a matter-update loop, not a wholesale change of tools. Add the procedures and templates Lorework should follow. A 30-minute demo is enough to walk through that job and see how Lorework would take it on.

Book a 30-minute demo

Related reading

• AI coworker for accountants
• An AI coworker for service businesses
• AI coworker for letting agents in Scotland

Client intake is on Client intake for a small Scottish law firm. Conveyancing updates are on Conveyancing updates for a small Scottish law firm.

Sociotechnical Limited (SC712040).

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