Wesley Thompson

About Wesley

Wesley Thompson has over 15 years’ experience providing regulatory and financial support in the professional practices sector. Wesley was a senior member at the SRA before moving into private practice. He has extensive experience working with a wide breadth of law firms of all sizes and structures. He is now considered a legal regulatory, policy and firm authorisation specialist.

Wesley is leading contact in the private equity and insolvency sector for law firm restructuring. Assisting firms and proposed owners of the processes involved in regulatory restructuring. Wesley has successfully gained ABS licences for many of the UKs largest regulated firms, including numerous listed firms and private equity structures.

During the past 8 years Wesley has worked with a wide number of regulators and regulated practices to provide regulatory guidance and support, across a range of subjects. Wesley has an in depth understanding of the Solicitors Accounts Rules, SRA Practicing Regulations and the Legal Services Act, which spans to a number of regulators including; the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx), Council for Licenced Conveyers (CLC), Intellectual Property Regulations Board (IPReg and the Bar Standards Board (BSB). These named regulators also have the designated powers to approve ABS/licensed bodies.

With his extensive experience specialising in Professional Practices, Wesley acts on behalf of professional service entities, their lenders and other professionals, advising on business structure planning, obtaining regulatory outcomes and providing specialist regulatory support. Wesley has the working relationships to be able to introduce investors and firms to one another and assist with the regulatory and operational support required.

Advises on Following Areas of Law

• Advising on regulatory business structure planning, including complex legal structures, private equity ownership models and listed law firms
• Advising funders, private equity, corporate finance providers and banks on legal regulations and regulatory structures
• Providing regulatory guidance and support to professional practices and regulated individuals in relation to investigations and regulatory reporting
• Consulting to regulatory role holders in the legal sector and advising and obtaining approval of those roles
• Providing regulatory guidance to office holders in Administration/Liquidation of professional practice firms
• Strong working relationships with the SRA, CLC, RICS, CILEx, BSB, IPReg, ICAEW
• Providing regulatory guidance and support to professional practices in relation to LASPO compliance

Specific Areas of Expertise

• Regulatory restructuring
• Private Equity and ABL ownership approval
• Understanding of the Legal Services Act
• Licence body approval
• SRA regulatory guidance and support

Notable/Reported Cases

• Work undertaken with the Solicitor Manager team on the regulatory wind down and safe transfer of all client files and money on King Wood & Mallesons in 2017. This was the UK's largest law firm administration. - KWM Europe finally collapses into administration | News | Law Gazette
• Lead on the regulatory restructuring of Ince Gordon Dadds public listing onto the AIM in 2018 - Pinsent Masons appointed on Ince Gordon Dadds LLP deal
• Provided Regulatory Guidance and Support to North Edge Capital LLP on the sale of their law firm, consolidated legal holdings to Fortuna Group Limited in 2018
• Provided Regulatory guidance and Support to Sandton Capital on the sale of their law firm, consolidated legal holdings to North Edge Capital LLP in 2018
• Acted for the joint administrators on the administrators of Cubism Law Limited in 2019
• Acted for Thomas Simon Limited on the change of ownership of their legal entity and provided regulatory Guidance and support with authorisation applications in 2019
• Acted for Ackroyd Legal on the change of ownership of an acquired legal entity and provided regulatory guidance and support with authorisation applications in 2019
• Acted for the joint Administrators on the administration of Roberts Jackson Limited and provided support with emergency authorisation applications in 2019
• Provided Regulatory Guidance and Support to Bond Truner and Anexo Group PLC on the sale of shares and change of control to DBAY in 2020
• Provided Regulatory Guidance and Support to Winn Solicitors on a Private Equity restructure in 2020-2021
• Provided Regulatory Guidance and Support to Living Bridge on law firm restructure in 2021-2022
• Provided Regulatory Guidance and Support to LawFront and Blixt on the acquisition of Farleys Solicitors LLP, Nelsons Solicitors Limited, Nelsons Solicitors Trust Corporation Limited, Lawfront Trust Corporation Limited and Slater Heelis limited from 2022-2024
• Provided Regulatory Guidance and Support to Waterland Private Equity on the acquisition and change of ownership of Beyond Law Group Limited, Beyond Conveyancing Limited, Beyond Corporate Limited and McAlister Family Law 2024