Axiom Ince: When Lawyers Go Bad

When lawyers go bad the consequences can be shocking.

In Sept 2023 Axiom Ince announced it was shutting down because of the illegal activities of  the ex-Managing Partner, Pragnesh Modhwadia. The ex-managing partner who was  accused of stealing  £64 million of client account money admitted spending it all.

I’m not sure whats more shocking the amount of money, the fact it took Axiom Ince so long to discover it or the fact Modhwadia is not behind bars!

According to Simon Passfield, barrister for Axiom Ince, £57m went missing from the firm’s client account between 2021 and 30 June 2023. It has all been spent. What he spent the missing millions on is anyones guess.

What we do know is that he had a large property empire but some of those properties were purchased before 2021. Even though he has a portfolio of properties worth millions he apparently only has tens of  thousands in the bank.

When lawyers go bad things get very  messy. Not just for the lawyers but for the people who trusted them and paid them their hard earned money.

4 Things That Happen When A Lawyer Goes Bad

1. Reputations get damaged. When you work in a disreputable company you also get a bad name.
2. Faith in the legal system gets eroded. People are always going to wonder if their money is safe and if you are going to steal their money.
3. Trust gets destroyed. People will wonder who knew about it or who helped in someway.
4. Lawyers and all the other employees who thought their futures were safe are faced with the prospect of finding new jobs. 😪

RollonFriday.com  reported some of the consequences:

Here are quotes from their article.

Another source told RollOnFriday that Axiom Ince has informed associates that there are no jobs for them in the future. It “seems they are pushing associates out to avoid redundancy pay-outs”, leaving lawyers “stuck or forced to accept jobs with worse packages and no compensation from Ince”, said the source.

ROF understands that a number of partners have already jumped to Norwegian firm Wikborg Rein, while there are also whispers that a group of employees is moving to Child & Child, where Ince’s old bosses Adrian and John Biles are now in charge.

Axiom Ince has already failed to meet the invoices of some contractors, said one, who told ROF they were disgusted by their treatment.

Clients as well as staff have been left in the lurch, they said. “I have just read the article on your website about Axiom’s missing client money”, said one.

“Axiom DWFM allowed us to exchange contracts on 07/09/23 with completion being set for 13/09/23. On Friday 08/09/23 I received an email saying that their client account had been frozen and they were unable to release monies for us to complete”.

“Now I am in a position where I am likely to lose the £15,000 deposit paid, [and] could have the vendor come after me for out of pocket expenses.”

“I have tried to telephone Axiom, but all their phone numbers ring twice and then the line goes dead, emails aren’t being replied to and despite speaking to the Law Society and the SRA, no-one is able to help.”

Yet the spendy spirit of Modhwadia appears to live on in some quarters of the firm.

Even after the SRA intervened into Pragnesh’s practice, Axiom Ince’s Dubai office placed a £4,500 deposit to hire the entire Jin Bo Law Skybar for a swanky shipping party this Monday, according to a source. 

“How? How did they pay for this shit without knowing if they could pay staff and debts?” said the insider. 

When ROF asked the firm if it really was throwing another ridiculous party, a spokesperson said “We can confirm that no payments have been made from Axiom Ince Limited to this venue in relation to an event”.

I feel really sorry for the people who paid their deposit and now can’t complete their house purchase. How this was ever allowed to happen I don’t know. It is just wrong and someone should be held accountable.

This is a warning to us all that we live in uncertain times.

Nothing is guaranteed in life. 😫 The collapse of a strong British law firm Axiom Ince is proof of that.

REMEMBER:

– Invest in yourself first.
– Keep your skills up and your networks active.
– If your a #lawyer who speaks English as second language make sure you keep practising your #communication skills. You want to do this so that you can truly understand what the hell is going on around you.

When you’re ready to develop your English communication skills I’m ready to help you. Discover how you can improve your English communication skills or keep your #English skills active.

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