AI Receptionist for Australian Conveyancers — Never Miss a Settlement or New Matter Call

Tanya runs a conveyancing practice in Hornsby with two licensed conveyancers and one paralegal. They handle about 25–35 active matters at any time — mostly residential purchases and sales across the Upper North Shore, with some commercial and a smaller flow of off-the-plan apartment matters.

A typical Friday for Tanya: three settlements scheduled. She's been on the phone all morning chasing one bank for unconditional finance approval (settlement was supposed to be 11am, now 2pm), confirming funds clearance with another, and emailing PEXA invitations for a third. Her direct line went to voicemail nine times before lunch.

When she checked at 1pm she had:

• Three voicemails from new prospects (one referred by a Hornsby mortgage broker she works with regularly, one from a Google search, one returning a missed call from yesterday)
• Two voicemails from existing clients on active matters asking when their settlement statement would be ready
• One voicemail from a real estate agent chasing contract review timing on an upcoming purchase
• One voicemail from a buyer's solicitor on an upcoming commercial settlement
• Two sales calls

Tanya returned the new prospect calls between settlements (around 4pm). Two had already engaged different conveyancers. The referred prospect from her broker friend had specifically said the broker recommended Tanya — and even that lead had gone elsewhere because she couldn't get through.

Loss for that Friday: two new matters at ~$1,650 average fee = $3,300 in revenue gone in one afternoon, plus the relationship cost of letting down the broker who'd referred a hot lead.

That's one Friday. Multiply by the actual reality of a conveyancing practice — settlement day chaos, contract review urgency, the natural rhythm of bank delays and PEXA outages — and most Australian conveyancers are missing 25–40% of inbound calls structurally.

This page covers how to fix that without hiring another paralegal at $55,000+. We'll cover the workflow, LEAP/Smokeball/InfoTrack integration, settlement-day call handling, compliance considerations under state conveyancer licensing, and real ROI maths.

Tanya's story is an illustrative composite based on common patterns across Australian conveyancing practices. Real named AAA customers with permission to publish include Line Marking Australia and Dinar Exchange.

Settlement-day chaos. PEXA workspace, bank funds clearance, payee detail verification, last-minute requisitions — settlement day is a 4–6 hour stretch where conveyancers cannot answer calls. Multiple settlements stacked on one day amplify this.

Contract review urgency. Pre-exchange contracts have tight review windows (often 24–48 hours). Prospects calling about urgent review have low patience for callbacks.

Bank phone queues. Conveyancers spend hours on bank discharge teams. Phone is occupied. New matter calls go to voicemail.

Time-sensitive new matters. A buyer with an offer accepted is on a 24-hour timer. They call the top 3 conveyancers from Google or their agent's referral. First responder wins.

Multi-jurisdiction complexity. NSW vs VIC vs QLD vs WA conveyancing has different rules, fees, and timing. Solo or small practices serving multiple states need state-specific intake.

Agent/solicitor inbound traffic. Real estate agents chasing contract review timing, buyer's/seller's solicitors negotiating contract terms — high-volume calls during contract negotiation phase.

Stamp duty enquiries. New buyers asking “how much is stamp duty?” before engaging. If you can't answer the call, they get the answer (and the engagement) elsewhere.

Conveyancer licensing constraints. State conveyancer licensing (e.g. NSW Fair Trading Conveyancer Licence) requires proper handling of client communications. Voicemail purgatory creates compliance friction.

Result: The average Australian conveyancing practice misses 25–40% of inbound calls. For a two-conveyancer practice doing $400,000–$700,000 in fees, lost new matter pipeline is $80,000–$200,000.

Steve answers within 2–3 rings. Australian accent, professional tone, configured to your practice name.

Steve qualifies the call:

• New matter enquiry — type (purchase/sale/transfer/off-the-plan), residential/commercial, state/postcode, price band, FHB status, finance status, urgency
• Existing client matter update — matter reference if known, query type (settlement date, stamp duty calculation, contract status, document status, payment query)
• Agent callback — agent name, agency, which matter, what they need
• Solicitor callback — firm, matter reference, urgency
• Settlement-day query — which matter, what they need (PEXA invitation, funds confirmation, time confirmation)
• General enquiry — fees, timing, services offered, FHB grants

For new matters, Steve captures:

• Name, contact details (phone + email)
• Property address (or suburb if not exchanged)
• Purchase or sale
• Property type (freehold house, strata unit, off-the-plan apartment, commercial, rural, land only)
• Price (for fee quote band)
• FHB status (eligibility for FHB grants/concessions)
• Finance status (pre-approved, applying, cash)
• Contract status (pre-exchange, post-exchange, off-the-plan deposit paid)
• Urgency (contract review deadline if applicable)
• Referral source (agent, mortgage broker, web search, existing client)

Steve books appointments directly into LEAP (matter record created, initial appointment scheduled), Smokeball (contact and matter intake, appointment booked), and Google Calendar (appointment held).

Steve handles settlement-day questions with care. Existing client calls during settlement window get routed by matter reference to the right conveyancer with priority SMS. Steve confirms what he knows (settlement is scheduled today, conveyancer is in PEXA workspace, will call back within 30 minutes when free) without speculating about delays.

Steve answers common questions: “Are you licensed?” (your state conveyancer licence number), “What are your fees?” (fixed-fee bands by price/property type), “Do you do FHB applications?” (your service offering), “Can you do off-the-plan?” (your specialty configuration), “Do you handle commercial?” (your scope).

Steve notifies you instantly. Email + SMS within 5 seconds. Settlement-day urgency triggers immediate mobile SMS to the conveyancer running that settlement.

You action in the portal:

• New matter (urgent contract review): call back within 1–2 hours, send engagement letter, quote
• New matter (standard): call back same business day, book initial appointment
• Existing matter: check matter file in LEAP/Smokeball, return call with status
• Agent/solicitor callback: call back with matter context
• Settlement query: brief response, full callback when free from workspace

For practices using LEAP:

Client and matter lookup: Steve checks LEAP by caller ID. Existing clients with active matters get personalised handling — matter reference accessible, conveyancer allocation visible, key dates referenced.

New matter creation: Qualified new matter enquiries create LEAP intake records with all captured intake — name, contact, property type, price, FHB status, finance status, urgency, source. Ready for matter opening.

Appointment booking: Direct integration with LEAP calendar — initial appointments booked with intake data attached.

Document status queries: Steve can reference (read-only) whether a matter has key milestones complete — contract reviewed, exchanged, settlement scheduled — to answer client questions accurately. He does NOT modify matter data; that's for the conveyancer.

Activity logging: All call activities logged against the matter for file completeness and conveyancer licensing audit trail.

Trust account references: Steve does NOT discuss trust account balances or transactions; these are handled directly by the conveyancer per trust account regulations under conveyancer licensing.

For practices using Smokeball:

Contact and matter recognition: Steve recognises existing Smokeball contacts via caller ID. Active matters surfaced for context.

New matter intake: Qualified prospects create Smokeball intake records ready for matter file opening with your standard templates.

Calendar booking: Initial consults booked into Smokeball calendar with intake notes.

Matter status: Steve can reference matter status for existing client queries.

Activity log: All calls logged against contacts/matters in Smokeball for audit trail.

For practices using InfoTrack for searches and PEXA workflow:

Search order awareness: Steve can reference (read-only) whether searches are in progress on a client's matter to answer “is my search ordered yet?” questions.

PEXA-related queries: Steve does NOT operate within PEXA but can confirm PEXA workspace creation status if integrated, and route urgent PEXA-related calls to the conveyancer running the workspace.

Stamp duty enquiries: For “how much is stamp duty?” Steve refers to your standard intake process — stamp duty depends on multiple factors (state, price, FHB status, residency, property type) and is calculated by the conveyancer using InfoTrack's stamp duty calculator.

This is general information, not legal or compliance advice. Verify with your state's conveyancer licensing authority or your professional association ( Australian Institute of Conveyancers or state equivalent).

State conveyancer licensing. Conveyancing is regulated state-by-state in Australia:

• NSW: NSW Fair Trading issues licences
• Victoria: Consumer Affairs Victoria regulates conveyancers
• South Australia: CBS SA issues licences
• Western Australia: Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS)
• Tasmania: CBOS Tasmania
• ACT: Access Canberra — conveyancers must be solicitors
• Queensland: conveyancing in QLD is performed by solicitors regulated by the Queensland Law Society
• NT: conveyancing in NT is performed by solicitors

Steve's intake is configured for your state's licensing scope and disclosure requirements. Professional bodies include the Australian Institute of Conveyancers NSW and Australian Institute of Conveyancers Victoria.

No legal advice. Steve is configured strictly to gather information and book appointments. He does NOT interpret contract terms, advise on title issues, comment on legal risk, or explain stamp duty implications beyond stating a calculation is required. These remain the licensed conveyancer's responsibility. Steve cleanly hands off advice-shaped enquiries.

Trust account compliance. Steve does NOT discuss trust account balances, transactions, or trust money receipts/disbursements. These are governed by state conveyancer licensing trust account regulations.

Engagement letter triggers. Where state law or your practice standards require engagement letters before substantive work, Steve flags the workflow trigger — the actual engagement letter generation goes through your LEAP/Smokeball templates.

Privacy and APP compliance. All call data stored in Australia, hosted on AWS Sydney for full Australian data sovereignty. Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) compliant and aligned with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). See OAIC.

Call recording disclosure. Steve provides state-appropriate call recording disclosure under each state's surveillance device legislation.

Professional indemnity. Steve does not provide advice and does not represent the conveyancer's professional opinion. The PI risk profile of Steve as an inbound intake tool is materially different from (and lower than) a representative providing advice.

For specific compliance configuration, we work with your practice principal during onboarding.

Most conveyancing practices start with Essential ($297/month). Multi-conveyancer firms with website lead capture often use Complete; multi-office groups use Enterprise.

14-day free trial. No setup fees. Cancel anytime. See full pricing.

Pure commercial/development conveyancing for one or two major developer clients with formal RFQ processes — phone volume is low, value of each matter is high, but AI receptionist economics are weaker (Steve still adds value for inbound new business, but volume is low).

Solicitor-led property law practices (where conveyancing is a small subset of broader legal work) — see our law firms page for more relevant configuration.

Off-the-plan specialists with one major developer client — your call mix may not benefit from intake automation.

Practices under 5 inbound calls a week — Essential plan economics get tight.

For everyone else — solo licensed conveyancers, multi-conveyancer practices, mixed residential/commercial, FHB-focused practices — Steve is the obvious right answer.