I'm David Wormley, a lawyer and operator who takes on projects where somebody saying "not my job" would stop anything from getting done.

If you have a process that works well and just needs someone to run it, you probably don't need me. But, if you're trying to build something new, improve how you do something, or solve a complex problem that touches law or regulation—and you need someone who can run with it through to the end—we should talk.

I'm David Wormley, a lawyer and operator who takes on projects where somebody saying "not my job" would stop anything from getting done.

If you have a process that works well and just needs someone to run it, you probably don't need me. But, if you're trying to build something new, improve how you do something, or solve a complex problem that touches law or regulation—and you need someone who can run with it through to the end—we should talk.

From the ground up

From the ground up

I've built my career across law, startups and regulated corporates by taking ownership of critical work stuck on the committee carousel. Now, I'm building the systems I've wished existed for years while taking ownership of the legal function and critical regulatory projects for a few select clients with scaling businesses.

The goal is to make it easier to lay strong legal foundations that reduce legal busywork, creating more room for seasoned judgement and achieving what you've set out to do.

I've built my career across law, startups and regulated corporates by taking ownership of critical work stuck on the committee carousel. Now, I'm building the systems I've wished existed for years while taking ownership of the legal function and critical regulatory projects for a few select clients with scaling businesses.

The goal is to make it easier to lay strong legal foundations that reduce legal busywork, creating more room for seasoned judgement and achieving what you've set out to do.

Selected highlights

Selected highlights

• Scaling from scratch:Built and ran the legal function at ComplyAdvantage (while simultaneously running Finance and People for the first year or two after taking ops off of the Founder/CEO's plate).Built and ran the legal function at ComplyAdvantage, simultaneously managing Finance and People operations in the company's early stages.
• Institutional scale:Spent most of a year on secondment running anti-financial crime legal across EMEA for American Express, and pinch hitting on other regulatory work.Seconded for an extended engagement running anti-financial crime legal across EMEA at American Express and supporting other regulatory workstreams.
• Crisis-tested:Wrote a suite of anti-money laundering policies for the offshore corporate services sector that successfully passed an audit just days after the release of the Panama Papers.Wrote a suite of anti-money laundering policies for the offshore corporate services sector that successfully passed an audit just days after the release of the Panama Papers.
• Raising the bar:Won FCA approval for authorisation and changes in control for financial services businesses (the regulator called one of my policies the "best they'd ever seen" in that category).Won FCA approval for authorisation and changes in control for financial services businesses (the regulator called one of my policies the "best they'd ever seen" in that category).
• Fixes done right:Guided clients through regulatory investigations including skilled person reviews, ensuring that things that had fallen through the cracks with earlier attempts were solved properly before further escalation, and improving the infrastructure to prevent reoccurrence.Guided clients through regulatory investigations including skilled person reviews, resolving issues that had persisted through earlier remediation attempts and implementing structural improvements to prevent reoccurrence.
• Automating the busywork:Built tools to automate time-consuming legal tasks—like contract generation for sales teams and dynamic pricing quotes—so I could focus on higher-value work while ensuring quality and consistency.Developed internal tools to automate routine legal tasks—including contract generation and dynamic pricing quotes—enabling focus on higher-value work while maintaining quality and consistency.