Who We Are
We are a select group of practitioners at gunnercooke who specialise in advising on blockchain, Web3 and cryptoassets. One of the largest Web3 teams globally, we offer:
Understanding of client’s commercial needs: shown for example by the fact we accept payment in cryptoassets.
Depth of expertise: we have been advising blockchain companies since the first successful initial coin offering in the United Kingdom.
Proven track record: for example, we have been involved in over 10% of successful FCA cryptoasset registrations and assisted various regulators with shaping their legal and regulatory frameworks.
We hope that you find this website useful for finding out more about us, and how we can work together with you to raise the standards of the Web3 industry. Because together, We’re All Gunner Make It.
Testimonials
James and his team of WAGMI Advisers are, without doubt, some of the most knowledgeable and expert lawyers and consultants in the digital asset space today. What I most enjoy about working together with them is their business focus and their earnest desire to help us succeed. James has guided us through the constantly shifting waters of the evolving legal and regulatory landscape, supporting us every step of the way from nascent start-up to mature business. We continue to look to the team at WAGMI Advisers for advice and support as our business moves forward and adapts to the future.
James Burnie and his team of WAGMI Advisers are, in my opinion, the leading blockchain and crypto lawyers in the UK. Their experience and ongoing consultancy into the Financial Conduct Authority's crypto asset regime as well as a shared goal for making the UK a key market for a great crypto market, makes WAGMI Advisers the only firm that any crypto, blockchain, DLT or Web 3 firm should consider working with to achieve their goals.
James Burnie, Mark Winters and the rest of the WAGMI Advisers team have advised us in our work towards submission to the UK regulators. Practical and responsive, I would recommend them highly as trusted advisers to the Web3 industry.
It is rare you find lawyers willing and able to see the world through a business lens, focused on enabling the business to succeed rather than simply minimizing risk. Any law firm can say they “support” the web3, crypto, blockchain, DLT industry, WAGMI Advisers are among one of the only teams actively helping build it.
With a deep understanding of our space and outstanding know-how, WAGMI Advisers provides thorough and rigorous legal advice that makes the critical difference to us as a decision-maker.
James and his team have standout expertise when it comes to navigating the legal and compliance complexities of Web3. James has assisted us with a variety of matters and has provided us with commercially viable and cutting-edge regulatory solutions for our product offerings.
James Burnie and WAGMI Advisers team have become one of our go-to teams for clear and concise advice on the developing cryptoasset regulatory space. James has helped us define our approach over the past couple of years to some complex matters in an ever-changing regulatory space.
Awards
Loyalty Points
We value our clients, and as a thank you we have a loyalty points scheme so that for every £1,000 (excl. tax) spent by our clients, they receive 1 loyalty point that can be redeemed as follows:*
- For 5 points: WAGMI Advisers stress toy
- For 10 points: WAGMI Advisers hoodie
- For 50 points: WAGMI Advisers bluetooth speakers
* Subject to the discretion of your contact point at WAGMI Advisers.
Team
James Burnie FRSA
James is a financial services and regulation partner at gunnercooke llp. He has been involved in crypto since advising on the first successful UK-based ICO and the first equity issuance settled on-chain. Recent work has included advising the Mauritius FSC, as well as three other regulators, on designing their legal and regulatory frameworks for cryptoassets. He has given evidence to the UK All-Party Parliamentary Groupon Blockchain and Cryptoassets, is an advisor to the Law Commission's DAO panel, and a named contributor to the UKJT legal statement on cryptoassets and smart contracts. He is a co-author of both the RegTech and PayTech books.
Mark Winters
Mark is Financial Crime Risk operating partner at gunnercooke llp, with over 25 years of experience. His experience includes local, regional and group CF11 / SMF 17 (MLRO), CRO and Chief Compliance Officer type roles, leading FCR Audit and Investigations teams and Anti Bribery departments. His experience has included: authoring, reviewing, socialising and implementing FCR systems and controls including risk assessments, policies and procedures, training, alert management and optimisation, recruiting and managing teams to run business as usual and remediation projects. Mark recently worked with an independent monitor on behalf of the US Department of Justice for a global bank determining if the risk and compliance systems and controls deployed were adequately designed, suitably implemented and effectively operated. Clients include ICONOMI and eToro.
Ash Costello
Ash is a privacy and technology partner at gunnercooke llp, being dual qualified on both UK and US law. Ash is a member of the Expert Panel of the European Blockchain Observatory and Forum (EUBOF); a member of the Legal and Regulatory Working Group of Blockchain Ireland (advising on digital assets, smart contracts and privacy); a former Co-Chair of the Privacy Working Group of INATBA; a former Global Head of Legal for one of the largest multinational funds administrator/custodians; on the Steering and Technical Committees of a supply chain protocol, and on the Editorial Board of the Citywealth’s Crypto Report.
Grace Du'Arte-Dulaine
Grace is compliance operating partner at gunnercooke llp, with over 20 years' experience in financial services across asset management, banking and insurance. She brings a unique skill set having acquired her knowledge and expertise at a range of firms including the Financial Services Authority (now the Financial Conduct Authority) and the Financial Ombudsman Service. Grace prides herself on providing practical and pragmatic regulatory solutions to often complex and challenging situations while at the same time applying a high standard of regulatory compliance. Grace has held a variety of roles both within the industry and in regulation which has given her a unique insight into financial services across a wide range of disciplines, from retail banking, asset management and private banking, to wealth management, platforms and insurance.
Will Foulkes
Will is technology lawyer partner at gunnercooke llp. Will has acted for a range of clients assisting them with their engagement with blockchain technologies, including WeTransfer, ViacomCBS, Wolves Football Team, Asprey, Gymshark and Cambridge University. Will also acts for a range of NFT projects as well as layer 1 blockchains including Minima.Global, NFT marketplaces such as KnownOrigin and metaverses including VaultHill and Pavia. Will acts as an advisor to the World Trade Organisation, the World Economic Forum as well as an advisor to the Law Commission's DAO panel.
Gareth Malna
Gareth is a financial services and regulation partner at gunnercooke llp. Gareth provides strategic support to founders and regulatory and compliance teams. He has supported projects as they move towards true decentralisation, taken firms through the crypto-asset registration process and helped build systems and controls for regulatory compliance and consumer protection. He has been published in the Financial Technology Law Review, the Law Society's Blockchain: Legal and Regulatory Guidance publication and the International Comparative Law Guide to Public Investment Funds Laws and Regulations.
Dan Petrovic
Dan is a product technology and enterprise sales operating partner at gunnercooke llp. He has over 25 years’ experience in product management, business development and enterprise sales in financial services and technology working with alternative and digital asset investment managers. Experienced in business planning, commercial strategy validation and fund formation, he supports key stakeholders across strategy verification, operational due diligence, vendor selection, project management of operational build and integration of vendors. Experienced with working with high growth firms on a trajectory for listing, merger, or acquisition paths as well as overseas firms establishing in new territories across digital money, funds, data security and DAO Wealth. His focus is on financial technology solutions for global capital markets, including systemic financial markets infrastructure, digital assets, digital funds, and Web3 data applications. Previously involved with an EMI start up digital custodian and an investment bank owned digital custodian.
Kathryn Dodds
Kathryn is a corporate and commercial senior associate at gunnercooke llp. She combines her passion for the arts with her legal knowledge, and specialises in advising on NFT, fashion, gaming, music, metaverse and web3 projects. Kathryn has experience working with DAOs and new forms of corporate structure for Web3 projects, and also has extensive experience helping companies and investors with fundraising documentation. Kathryn is also an artist, DJ and radio host who has incorporated use of NFTs into her creative work, which have been airdropped to listeners of her radio show.
Brandon Holdsworth
Brandon is Financial Crime Risk associate operating partner at gunnercooke llp. Leveraging his ongoing review of industry guidelines such as the JMLSG and FCA Good and Poor Practice, and his studies for the ICA Diploma in AML, Brandon actively supports clients, acting in a capacity as a Junior SME Subject Matter Expert at various clients, including FinTechs as well as directly assisting risk and compliance departments in FCA regulated banks and registered crypto firms. His skills include authoring, reviewing and implementing FCR systems and controls. Brandon is particularly interested in risk management, focussing on sanctions compliance, AML automation and optimisation, CDD (customer due diligence) and KYC (know your customer) and using a risk based approach towards data management.
Yuliya Prokopyshyn
Yuliya is a privacy and commercial law associate at gunnercooke llp. Her clients include players across the Web3 ecosystem, from NFT artists and layer 1 blockchains to metaverses and gaming platforms. Yuliya is also a sought-after speaker and has spoken at numerous conferences, including NFT.London, London Law Conference and METACON in South Korea. She has had articles published by the Solicitors' Journal, which includes: "Britcoin: legal and regulatory issues with the digital pound", "Crypto scams: don't ignore the red flags", and "The metaverse: how it works and the legal implications of it". Yuliya holds legal degrees from universities in the UK and US.
Meghan Millward
Meghan is a financial services and regulatory associate at gunnercooke llp. Meghan advises on wide a range of issues across Web3, DeFi and metaverses, including commercial contracts, SAFTs, staking, gambling, regulatory perimeter issues, the regulatory treatment of tokens, use of tokens for payments, international set-up considerations, and how to deal with issues when setting up and contracting with DAOs and exchanges. As regards crypto funds set-up, she advises on the full end-to-end fund launch process, document drafting, and overall project management to ensure cost and time efficiency. Meghan has published in the Journal of International Banking & Financial Law and assisted the Mauritius FSC and Kazakhstan's AFSA with drafting its legal and regulatory framework for cryptoassets.
Rebecca Cooper
Becky recently graduated from the University of Leeds and has since joined as an associate operating partner at gunnercooke llp, assisting and supporting senior colleagues. She recently provided support to the CRO and MLRO of UK Firms in the Crypto Regulation Process, which has given her valuable insight into the crypto regulatory environment. Becky is also involved in a wide variety of Financial Crime Risk (FCR) and Dispute Resolution projects. This has familiarised her with various types of clients, and a range of projects and initiatives. She maintains knowledge of industry guidelines, such as, the FCA Good and Poor Practice and JMLSG, and AML legislation, such as the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and money laundering regulations, to assist firms in implementing FCR systems and controls.
Holly Joseph
Holly is a trainee lawyer at gunnercooke llp. Holly's work involves assisting innovative Web3 projects, with a particular focus on the regulatory areas of FSMA, the MLRs and payment services. Before joining gunnercooke, Holly received a First in law from the University of Exeter, where modules included Bitcoin, Money & Trust and Artificial Intelligence. Holly has experience drafting contractual documentation as well as providing regulatory advice to Web3 projects. She also assists with the operational management of projects to help them run on time and smoothly.