High-profile conveyancer Lloyd Davies has been disqualified from the profession for misleading 300 students about the status of his training academy.

Davies (main picture) failed to inform apprentices and students that The Conveyancing Academy (TCA) had lost its accreditation from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), rendering their work towards licensed conveyancer and technician qualifications worthless.

Davies admitted to dishonesty, recklessness, and lacking integrity before the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC). He accepted permanent disqualification and agreed to pay £175,000 in costs.

CONVEY LAW

A qualified solicitor since 1995 and licensed conveyancer since 2009, Davies founded South Wales firm Convey Law and the Conveyancing Foundation charity. He also remains the chief executive of Convey365, a technology firm.

TCA, established in 2014, offered Level 6 licensed conveyancer and Level 4 conveyancing technician qualifications under SQA. The academy trained its own staff and those from over 100 other practices.

In April 2021, the SQA suspended TCA due to an investigation into exam malpractice, after a staff member provided internal candidates with exam papers in advance. The suspension prohibited TCA from offering SQA-approved qualifications. In October 2021, the SQA permanently revoked TCA’s approval, a decision upheld on appeal.

Despite this, TCA continued to enrol new students and misled learners and employers into believing they were still on valid courses. Many only discovered the truth months later when assessments were not returned.

WASTED YEARS

Legal Futures reports that one student described feeling they had “wasted two years” and were left “in complete limbo.” Employers voiced frustration over the disruption caused.

Davies argued that confidentiality obligations prevented him from revealing the suspension and that he expected the issue to be resolved quickly. He later sought alternative solutions for students and repaid funding received post-suspension.

The CLC condemned Davies’s actions for damaging student careers and the reputation of licensed conveyancers, emphasising the need to uphold professional integrity.

UNSCRUPULOUS AND DISHONEST

But speaking to Today’s Conveyancer Davies said: “In 2019, an unscrupulous, and dishonest Conveyancing Academy Training Manger, who was subsequently found guilty of gross misconduct, compromised the CLC examinations of two of our Convey Law Directors.

“In 2021 the regulator of the CLC courses, the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA), illegally suspended the Conveyancing Academy pending the outcome of their investigation into this matter. The SQA specifically told us to keep their investigation strictly confidential.

“The SQA investigation took ten months to complete, when it should have only taken a number of weeks. Both of my fellow Directors and I were found not guilty on conclusion of the SQA investigation, but the SQA still terminated its training agreement with the Academy.

“Two years ago, the CLC instigated proceedings against me and my fellow Licensed Conveyancer colleague for failing to tell Academy students about the ‘confidential’ SQA investigation.”

SINCERE APOLOGIES

He added: “My sincere apologies to the 8 students whose CLC courses were delayed as a result of this matter and our two Directors who, despite being found innocent, were so chronically impacted by the unnecessary and abusive CLC investigations against them – which also found them innocent – that they left the profession.

“Due to the incompetent and draconian actions of both the SQA and the CLC only 18 of the 224 Licensed Conveyancer Apprentices that the Academy had secured funding for in 2021 have gone on to qualify.

“The “CLC Training Trial” took a full two years to conclude, included an abandoned trial because the CLC had to recuse a bias judge that they had appointed, with the trial deliberately rescheduled to a date which neither my Solicitor nor Barrister could accommodate. The proceedings have cost over £350,000 in excessive legal fees, of which CLC Members will be required to pay over £100,000.

“I was in no way confident of a fair trial and, in order to secure the exoneration of my colleague, I agreed to surrender my Licensed Conveyancer practising license, which I had not renewed since 2022. The CLC prosecution was neither proportionate or fair and the conduct of the CLC in relation to all of these matters requires independent investigation.

“It comes as a great relief to no longer be regulated by the CLC and I wish my colleagues at Convey Law all the very best for the future.

“My sincere apologies again to everyone effected by these chronic events. Thank you to my colleagues and friends for their support and love throughout some very dark and difficult times over the course of the last five years.”