Pack workspace preview · Ethics and Professional Conduct
Professional Problems and the Right Forum
Guided recall
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Current task
When to report misconduct
Step 2 of 6
What facts would make a client's complaint about a solicitor point to professional misconduct for the SRA rather than poor service for the firm's complaints procedure?
Start with the alleged wrong and the outcome sought, not with the fact that someone is angry.
01
Answer-key marking
See what you got right and the precise point to repair.
02
Targeted repair
Fix the gap without repeating everything you already know.
03
Spaced return
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Feedback
Building block · Conveyancing stages
Nearly there
Just shy of completeYour blurt
What you said — use this when reading the feedback below.
The solicitor checks the draft contract, title papers, searches, enquiries and correspondence to see whether contracts have been exchanged and whether completion has taken place. Before exchange the buyer can still raise enquiries, renegotiate or decide not to proceed1. After exchange the buyer is normally committed to complete2, although any defect found then can still be treated as a reason to walk away3 before completion.
Feedback
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Overall verdict
You used exchange as the correct turning point and identified the file evidence that establishes the stage. Tighten the consequence of discovering a defect after exchange.
What you got right
- “Before exchange the buyer can still raise enquiries, renegotiate or decide not to proceed” states the practical freedom at that stage.
- “After exchange the buyer is normally committed to complete” identifies the central change in legal position.
How to improve
Polish, not repair — the substance is in place.
“any defect found then can still be treated as a reason to walk away” is too broad. After exchange, the contract usually controls the available response; the issue may instead require a requisition, undertaking, insurance solution, damages claim or another contractual remedy.
Best answer
The solicitor reconstructs the stage from the contract papers, title, searches, enquiries, correspondence and evidence of exchange or completion. Before exchange, the buyer is generally free to investigate, renegotiate or withdraw; after exchange, the buyer is contractually bound to complete. A later problem must therefore be handled through the contract and the remedies still available, rather than automatically giving the buyer a right to walk away.
Quick check
Why does exchange change the advice given about a newly discovered conveyancing defect?
Try to recall it first, then reveal to check yourself.