East London

Responses from just 4 law firms, representing 13 partners, of whom 8 are conveyancing partners were received. The findings, given their paucity, cannot provide a suitable sample. Nevertheless they read as follows:

Internet connectivity
Permanent connection					75%
Dial up					25%
Recovery of Posts & Petties costs
Transfers				Bonds	Cancellations
High			R 300	R 228	R 150
Low			R 150	R 100	R 57
Average			R 238	R 180	R 106
Recovery of Deeds Office search costs
High					R 57
Low					R 30
Average					R 45
Did not respond					25%
Recovery of electronic bond instruction costs
ABS		FNB	NED	STD	AVG
High	R 50	R 50	R 50	R 50	R 50
Low	R 40	R 40	R 40	R 20	R 38
Average	R 45	R 50	R 50	R 50	R 48
Did not respond	50%	50%	50%	50%	50%
Recovery of FICA search costs
Individuals				Companies	Trusts
High			R 228	R 228	R 228
Low			R 100	R 100	R 100
Average			R 164	R 164	R 164
Did not respond			50%	50%	50%
Firms that have increased the recommended tariff					None
Firms that charge a minimum fee					None
Discounting of fees
High					25%
Low					20%
Average					24%
Did not respond					25%
Percentage of firms which incentivise their secretaries					75%
Ratio of senior secretaries to junior secretaries					1 : 0.6
Matter "legs" per secretary per month
A completed bond and a completed transfer each = 1 leg, while a cancellation = half a leg
High					27
Low					6
Average					9
How long will the property boom last?
Don't know					0%
Over already					0%
Less than 6 months					75%
Less than 1 year					25%
More than 1 year					0%

Links to the regional results
Main survey results
Bloemfontein
Cape Town
Durban
George
Johannesburg - East
Johannesburg - Sandton
Johannesburg - South
Johannesburg - West
Pietermaritzburg
Port Elizabeth
Pretoria