UK regional firm Greenwoods Legal has hired a nine-strong private client and tax team from Ince & Co, the latest in a wave of departures from the beleaguered law firm.

The team is led by Ince’s former head of private client and tax Matthew Biles and follows the arrival of former Ince tax lawyer Roger Harding, who joined Greenwoods earlier this month as head of tax and trusts.

Ince and its parent company Axiom Ince has been haemorrhaging lawyers in recent weeks after the Solicitors Regulation Authority suspended Axiom Ince head Pragnesh Modhwadia in mid-August for suspected dishonesty. While Axiom Ince is unaffected by the ruling, it has piled further pressure on Ince & Co, which Modhwadia’s firm AxiomDWFM rescued from administration back in April. Modhwadia’s firm subsequently rebranded the parent group as Axiom Ince.

Biles and his team’s arrival will further strengthen Greenwoods’ London wealth preservation practice, following its recent office relocation to Lincoln’s Inn Fields.

Robert Dillarstone, Greenwoods’ managing partner, said: “This team has an outstanding reputation and client base; we are delighted to welcome them to Greenwoods.”

Biles joins Greenwoods after almost six years as a partner at Ince, which he joined from Fladgate in 2018.

He said: “Greenwoods is a fantastic firm for us to join. It is ambitious, agile, has a strong record of growth and an excellent client portfolio.”

Biles and Harding are not the first former Ince lawyers to join the firm – Greenwoods’ head of corporate and commercial Stephen Jarvis arrived in July last year after 27 years at Ince.

Earlier in September, RWK Goodman hired a four-strong immigration and employment team from Ince, while RPC snapped up Ince’s head of corporate James Channo and a team of three. A team of seven property lawyers including Axiom Ince’s head of property also quit the firm, joining Mezzle Law.

In the wake of Modhwadia’s suspension, Axiom Ince secured a £64m High Court freezing order against him over missing funds and issued a claim for alleged breach of fiduciary duty.