Axiom Ince trainees left in the dark over firm’s collapse
Emily Dunham – 4 December 2023
Along with a consideration for culture and practice areas, a lot of the trainees we speak to cite the stability of their firm as one of their reasons for choosing to complete their training contract there. So, what happens when the firm you’re training at, or due to start training at, collapses? Unfortunately, the 30 trainees and future trainees of Axiom Ince are in exactly that situation and have found out first-hand what that can be like.
Axiom Ince had been on the brink of collapse for a few months when it ceased trading in September 2023, though its end came when approximately £66 million in client money was found to be missing from its accounts, and seven individuals were arrested by the Serious Fraud Office. As fears grew for the future of the firm, the City of London Law Society appealed to City firms to take on Axiom Ince’s trainees, but no firm stepped forward to take on the cohort, leaving them in a bit of a sticky situation. Whilst the Law Society, the representative body that support trainees in situations like this, offers a career clinic available for these individuals, and has spoken in support of them and their legal careers, it appears that future trainees will now have to start fresh applications. In short, the firm’s trainees have been thrown back into the application cycle – and we’re only too familiar with how stressful that can be!
You can read more about Axiom Ince’s collapse, and the reasons behind it, here.