David Wilde

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David Wilde is a Director of Chilcotts Law.

David Wilde, a natural talent first became interested in law whilst studying History at school. Educated in Winchester, David progressed through college and onto University to gain his Law degree. Whilst at University David became involved in debating and mooting competitions and went on to represent the University at County level reaching the debate finals before eminent peers including Lord Templeman.

David’s career in law started off in West Sussex where he was then living and took off after obtaining articles in London working for Bazley White & Co, now part of Bracher Rawlins in Chancery Lane, London. David would often be involved with work in the High Court of Justice as a trainee and this cut his teeth for the future. David was admitted as Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England & Wales in 1996.

In 1997 and after a brief period working in the Company Commercial department of Moore & Blatch Solicitors in Southampton, settled down in Devon, joining Charles Sainter and Peter Willetts at Chilcotts Solicitors. David’s experience in London proved invaluable and his career blossomed.

In 2003 David ventured north to Scotland to re-qualify as a solicitor passing his Scottish Solicitor exams first time and he became admitted to the Law Society of Scotland and with that became a Notary Public. David still maintains his Scottish qualification and Notary Public status. In 2004 David moved back to Tavistock to re-join Chilcotts and was soon made a partner in the firm heading up the civil and criminal litigation department. With Charles Sainter retiring in 2005 David took over the mantle with Peter Willetts and worked to expand the private client department.

David soon established himself as a team player amongst the other businesses and has achieved success in many of his cases representing clients including being part of the team taking cases as high as the Supreme Court in London. In 2009 David was nominated and became a finalist in the Law Society Excellence awards Solicitor in private practice category.

Peter Willetts retired in 2010 and since then David has headed up the firm and with his drive and ambition has constantly looked for ways to move the firm forward as a business and to ensure ongoing client satisfaction. David’s tenacity ensured Chilcotts became the first firm to obtain the Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation in 2012.

Naturally, David is keen to progress and diversify his successful business and has been a key part of the successful strategy of launching a hybrid law model for both fee earners and consultants, now offering a wide range of legal services to clients in the South West and beyond.

David now heads up the private client department in Tavistock and Bristol, and will continue to meet the ongoing challenges facing the legal market place both as business owner and solicitor with his ever expanding team of expert staff.

David’s roles within the firm include him being appointed as:

• Anti Money Laundering Officer
• Anti Money Laundering Reporting Officer
• Accountants Reports Contact Person
• Authorised Signatory
• Authorised to Supervise
• Compliance Officer for Financial and Administration
• Compliance Officer for Legal Practice
• Designated Complaints Handler
• FCA Compliance Officer
• Training Contact
• Training Principal
• Senior Responsible Officer for the firms CQS accreditation

In his spare time David has managed to complete a cycle ride from Cornwall to Paris with Discover Adventure, and soon after completed his solo ride from Cornwall to Rome in just 2 weeks, both for the Cornwall Downs Syndrome Charity.