The City of London Law Society (CLLS) has appealed to City firms to take on trainees from Ince as fear grows for the future of the troubled firm.

On Friday 25 August, CLLS chair Colin Passmore, at the behest of CLLS training committee chair Patrick McCann and Watson Farley & Williams’ director of development and culture Richard Album, wrote to City managing partners asking them for assistance in placing Ince’s 30 current and future trainees.

The Lawyer understands that seven Ince trainees are about to qualify, with two in their third seat and six in their second seat. Additionally, eight were slated to join the firm this September with seven more in March.

Passmore confirmed to The Lawyer: “We’re asking a number of firms whether they have room to take existing trainees. The response has been really quite impressive and touching, and a number of firms are trying to help.”

It is understood that the deadline for response is Monday 4 September 2023.

However, one managing partner contacted by The Lawyer was gloomy at the prospect of finding slots for the stranded trainees. “Poor souls – it’s the worst time of year for it. Our order books for trainees are filled and it couldn’t be at a more difficult time in the economic environment.”

Ince & Co is now part of Axiom DWFM after it was acquired in April following the Ince Group’s collapse into administration that same month. The firm’s trading name was changed to Axiom Ince shortly after.

Since the deal, Axiom Ince has faced scrutiny from the SRA. Axiom Ince’s managing partner Pragnesh Modhwadia and partners Shyam Mistry and Idnan Liaqat were suspended over failure to comply with account rules. There were also further allegations that Modhwadia has misappropriated “very significant sums of money”.

Following this, The Lawyer reported that one of Axiom Ince’s suspended partners – Shyam Mistry – filed a Part 8 claim against the the SRA and Yorkshire independent law firm Gordons. Victoria Davey, managing partner at Gordons, was appointed earlier on as the SRA’s intervention agent.

The former chief executive of the Ince Group, Donald Brown, and managing partner Jennette Newman have also left the firm.

Earlier this week, Ince’s website – run separately from Axiom’s – had been “temporarily unavailable” for more than 24 hours. It is now back online.

Elsewhere, 12 trainee solicitors’ contracts were terminated by boutique funds firm MJ Hudson, which was broken up for sale earlier this year. The decision followed an announcement that financial services provider Apex Group intended to acquire MJ Hudson’s business divisions, while the firm’s UK fund management business was sold to a private investor via special purpose acquisition vehicle Khepri in March.

If you have been affected by the situation, you can reach out to editor Catrin Griffiths at catrin.griffiths@centaurmedia.com.