Real Estate Practice of Victoria's Largest Law Firm Processes 90 Per Cent of Transactions Through the Electronic Filing System to Achieve Operational Efficiencies
As the largest law firm in Victoria, Cook Roberts LLP handles a wide variety of cases within 15 core practice areas with real estate law being a significant component of the law firm's activity. The firm was established by Ron Cook and Art Roberts in 1970.
For more than two years, Cook Roberts has been using the Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia's Electronic Filing System (EFS) to process a variety of real estate transactions including land transfers, Form B mortgages, declarations of strata certificate compliance, and discharges of mortgage. The firm also submits subdivision plans and related documents as a result of the new EFS survey plan functionality.
Ralston S. Alexander, QC, a partner at Cook Roberts and past president of the Law Society of BC, notes that it was "astoundingly easy" to get started using EFS. He uses the system daily and estimates that the firm processes up to 90 per cent of real estate transactions through the system.
Ralston says the operational efficiencies and advantages that have been realized by the firm's conveyancing practice as a result of using EFS are remarkable. He says law firms who specialize in conveyancing law are getting onboard with EFS because they recognize its advantages in providing faster, more stream-lined client service.
"I know of no lawyer who has tried the e-filing system who would then consider reverting to the manual filing system," he adds. He explains that because all the steps are streamlined the registration process is much faster that over-the-counter filing. In addition to time saved on administrative details, the firm has realized cost savings associated with fewer couriers and title agent fees.
Ralston recalls an occasion when a land transfer need to be effected for a property located in Fernie, BC, where the buyer lived in Calgary and the seller in London, England. The legal documents were prepared and sent to the parties by e-mail on a Wednesday, then signed and e-mailed back to the legal representatives who filed the documents with EFS. Concurrently, the purchaser arranged a bank transfer payment, and the entire transaction, legal and financial, was concluded in less than 48 hours. Ralston estimates the same transaction would have taken between 10 to 14 business days using the over-the-counter method, and at a much higher cost.
Ralston cites the ability to address clients' real estate needs expeditiously as the primary reason he chooses to use EFS whenever possible. "The magic of EFS is that you can close a transaction anywhere in the world in 48 hours, and you can't do that with the over-the counter method."
