Ince Gordon Dadds, now known as 'Ince'

The acrimony between Ince and its former France branch has intensified, with the two parties currently embroiled in a dispute over access to client data.

In the latest episode in the ongoing feud between the two former affiliates, a partner in the Paris office of Ince & Co France has questioned the manner in which Ince Gordon Dadds – which last week rebranded to 'Ince' – manages a database that holds sensitive data pertaining to clients of both the London-headquartered firm and the now-independent Ince & Co France.

Though there is no suggestion Ince has misused any of the disputed data managed on its database, Ince & Co France partner Laurence Hanley contends that the data in dispute belongs to the entities that went into administration at the beginning of the year. This included Ince & Co International, of which several equity partners in France are a part.

"It is not clear to us by what right they have access to data belonging to Ince & Co in administration," Ince & Co France partner Laurence Hanley told Legal Week.

He added: "We don't know how they can justify that. They're a different law firm. When we open a new client case, they send a notification to their whole firm. They still have access."

An insider at Ince & Co France said the branch had about 5,000 to 6,000 open matters, and that since the parting of ways, the Paris-headquartered firm has been in the process of developing its own client database at a cost.

Hanley also said: "We have been asking [Ince London] for months to transfer our data to us, but they have always found a reason not to or to delay."

However, Ince London has hit back.

Responding to all of Ince & Co France's allegations, a spokesperson for the Aldgate-based firm said in a statement to Legal Week: "Ince [London] denies any allegations of client data being handled improperly. Protecting our clients' data is paramount to our business and we handle their data in accordance with the applicable regulations and data management best practice."

Further, a person with knowledge of the matter said that, following the administration, the London office acquired responsibility to continue providing certain services – including data hosting – to the firm's network entities, including Ince France.

Earlier this year, Ince & Co France confirmed it was not going to join the newly combined Ince, which has since absorbed the rest of Ince & Co's international network.

In the ensuing months, the two parties have been at odds over, among other things, capital entitlements, with people close to the matter saying Ince offered to pay capital back to partners in France only if they joined the firm, which they refused to do.