Ince & Co

Ince

Headquarters	London
No. of offices	21
No. of employees	700
Major practice areas	General Practice
Key people	Donald Brown (Chief Executive)[1] Simon Howard (Chairman)
Revenue	£97.0 million (2021/22)[2]
Date founded	1866
Dissolved	2023
Website	www.inceco.com/en

Ince & Co was a United Kingdom-based holding company with a core business in legal services, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange.^[3] The company also offered complementary services in accounting, financial services, consulting, and pensions advice.^[4] It was previously known as Ince Gordon Dadds LLP, following the acquisition of Ince & Co by Gordon Dadds Group LLP,^[5] and rebranded as The Ince Group in August 2019.^[6]

In 2022, The Ince Group ranked 47th in The Lawyer UK 200 list, with £100.2 million in revenue during the previous year.^[6] As of 2021, the firm operated in 9 countries and had 21 offices, and employed over 700 employees worldwide, including support staff.^[7] The chief executive officer was Donald Brown, while the non-executive chairman was Simon Howard.^[8]

In May 2023, Axiom DWFM purchased the firm out of administration and reverted its name to Ince & Co. In August 2023, the SRA suspended three directors of Axiom Ince — Pragnesh Modhwadia, Idnan Liaqat, and Shyam Mistry — amid allegations of a £64m fraud.^[9] On 3 October 2023, the Solicitors Regulation Authority intervened to close down Axiom Ince.^[10] The intervention is among the largest and potentially the most expensive in SRA's history.^[11]

History

In 2017, Gordon Dadds LLP became the second law firm to list on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange, raising £20 million, two years after Gateley became the first UK law firm to have an IPO.^[12][13] The Legal Services Act of 2007, which went into force in 2012, had made it possible for non-lawyers to own or invest in law firms organised as "alternative business structures".^[14] In 2018, Gordon Dadds acquired Metcalfes Solicitors in Bristol.^[15]

In early 2019, Gordon Dadds LLP acquired the UK and Chinese businesses of Ince & Co for an estimated £21 million in consideration,^[16] creating the largest publicly traded law firm in the UK based on revenue at the time, until DWF went public in March of that year.^[17][18] Both Gordon Dadds and Ince & Co were well established in the field of insurance law.^[19] Gordon Dadds was known for resolving large and complex disputes in the London and international markets,^[19] and had a private client and family practice,^[20] while Ince & Co was a network of international commercial law firms,^[19] specialising in the shipping and insurance sectors,^[21] as well as energy and aviation.^[6]

Six months into the merger, the firm rebranded the name of most of its legal businesses, including most of its international offices, to "Ince";^[5] only its private client business then in Mayfair retained the name "Gordon Dadds".^[6] For its financial year 2020, the combined firm reported an 87% increase in revenue, followed by a slowdown in growth in subsequent years.^[22] On 13 March 2022, the firm's IT team shut down its servers after detecting a cyber attack;^[23] in April, it was granted an injunction to deter hackers from leaking its data online.^[24]

In April 2023, Ince Gordon Dadds filed for administration while Donald Brown reportedly attempted to reclaim the firm.^[25] Less than one month later, the firm was purchased by Axiom DWFM and operated under the former name "Ince & Co."^[26] All former Ince employees were re-hired.^[26]

Notable lawyers

• Marie van der Zyl, employment lawyer and 48th president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews^[27]
• Lewis Pugh, former maritime lawyer who left Ince & Co to become an endurance swimmer and ocean advocate^[28][29]
• Philippe Ruttley, former EU and competition head at Ince who moved to Keystone Law^[30]
• Michael Baker-Harber, also an Olympic sailor for Great Britain, who as a partner at Ince & Co. represented Lloyd's of London.^[31][32]

References

1. McKechnie, Holly (11 May 2023). "Steadying the ship: what's next for Ince?". Legal Business. Retrieved 8 June 2023. Donald Brown remains CEO...
2. "Ince fills managing partner hot-seat". Legal Business. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
3. "INCE Group PLC". Financial Times – Equities. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
4. "Company Information – Business Description". The Ince Group plc. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
5. "Ince rebrands six months into merger". The Global Legal Post. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
6. "Ince Gordon Dadds – What The Lawyer Says". The Lawyer. 10 April 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
7. The Ince Group plc, Annual Report and Financial Statements 2021, pp. 4–5. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
8. "Board of Directors". The Ince Group plc. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
9. "This is how Axiom Ince ended". LittleLaw. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
10. "What has happened to Axiom Ince Ltd?". Solicitors Regulation Authority. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
11. "This is how Axiom Ince ended". LittleLaw. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
12. "Dadds plans expansion after listing". The Times. 5 August 2017 – via Gale OneFile.
13. Ames, Jonathan (20 July 2017). "Gordon Dadds will be second law firm to float in London". The Times. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
14. Lynch, Russell (10 October 2018). "A flight to floats: Which legal eagles will be next to join Britain's trend of lawyer listings?". The Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
15. Hyde, John (24 January 2018). "Bristol firm acquired a week after it rescued collapsed neighbour". The Law Society Gazette. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
16. Hyde, John (25 July 2019). "Gordon Dadds profits soar - but owners swallow £14m Ince acquisition hit". The Law Society Gazette. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
17. Baker, Tom (15 March 2019). "DWF becomes UK's largest listed law firm as it completes £95m IPO". Legal Business. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
18. McNicol, Hamish (29 October 2018). "Gordon Dadds to become largest listed firm with £43m acquisition of Ince". Legal Business. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
19. Gangcuangco, Terry (31 October 2018). "Insurance law firms in £34 million mega merger". Insurance Business Magazine. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
20. Hilborne, Nick (14 December 2021). "Ince launches 'most wide-ranging' private wealth offering". Legal Futures. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
21. Booth, James (29 October 2018). "Listed challenger law firm Gordon Dadds swallows 150-year-old City firm Ince & Co". City AM. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
22. Baker, Tom (24 May 2022). "Cyber attack and Ukraine invasion blamed as Ince sees revenue slump 3%". Legal Business. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
23. Cahill, Helen (11 April 2022). "City firms warned to prepare for cyber attacks; The recent hacking of law firm Ince Group's systems has highlighted the need for companies to be alert to the risks". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
24. Rose, Neil (5 April 2022). "Ince Group granted injunction after ransomware attack". Legal Futures. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
25. Hamilton, Jamie (14 April 2023). "Ince collapses and files for administration". RollOnFriday. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
26. Hamilton, Jamie (5 May 2023). "Ince plucked from administration". RollOnFriday. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
27. Rocker, Simon (18 May 2018). "The making of Marie". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 2 July 2022 – via PressReader.
28. Nair, Ajay (6 July 2018). "'Speedo diplomacy': Who is Lewis Pugh?". Sky News. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
29. Shute, Joe (1 September 2018). "Jellyfish stings, plastic waste and ferocious storms: Lewis Pugh on swimming the length of the English Channel". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
30. Nair, Krishnan (24 August 2018). "Keystone adds Ince competition head and ex-Addleshaws Qatar chief in 10-strong series of hires". Law.com (International ed.). Retrieved 2 July 2022.
31. Dead In The Water: Murder and Fraud in the World's Most Secretive Industry, Matthew Campbell, Kit Chellel, Atlantic Books, 2022
32. Lloyd's of London- A Reputation at Risk, Godfrey Hodgson, Allen Lane, 1984, p. 187

External links

• (official web site)