Solicitor for house purchase in Northern Ireland

colinmis

We are selling our house in Dublin and purchasing a house in Belfast. Is it possible to use the same solicitor for both transactions or do we need a separate solicitor in each jurisdiction?

Victor

You would need a dual-registered solicitor. The Law Society does have lots of members in Northern Ireland https://www.lawsociety.ie/find-a-solicitor/Solicitor-Firm-Search but only a proportion will be interested in (a) conveyancing (b) conveyancing in Belfast (c) conveyancing in Dublin. Talking directly to the Law Society might be easier than asking every solicitor.

I'm not sure if there would be a huge advantage in having the one solicitor. Much of the work in conveyancing is dependent on the individual property, not the clients. The one thing you would need to keep clear is what you tell each solicitor, e.g. if you are in a chain-type transaction, both need to know everything.

colinmis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122219463#Comment_122219463

Thanks, that's very helpful. I guess my thinking for having just one solicitor is that it would be easier and cheaper but by the sounds of it, it might not be either. I'll speak to the Law Society and see what they think….

frank730

It won't be cheaper for sure, I used the same solicitor for buying and selling and he charged us for 2 transactions.

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122225392#Comment_122225392

Because there were two transactions. No material efficiency results from doing two transactions simultaneously for the same client. The client doesn't get a reduction for this any more than the customer gets a discount from the butcher for buying two joints of meat at the same time.

Claw Hammer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122225392#Comment_122225392

If he had messed up the two of them would you sue him for messing up 1 or 2 transactions?