Antonis Lagadianos

Five partners across Ince & Co's London and Piraeus offices are leaving the firm, in the latest departures ahead of its reverse takeover by listed outfit Gordon Dadds.

Among the most recent exits are former Piraeus office head Antonis Lagadianos and shipping partner Evangelos Catsambas, both of whom will join Watson Farley & Williams' (WFW) Athens office next month.

Lagadianos was head of Ince's Piraeus office from December 2015 until January this year, when he was succeeded by firm chairman Paul Herring, who relocated to the port city to take up leadership of the base.

Catsambas, meanwhile, has spent 10 years at Ince, including the last five as a partner, and like Lagadianos, has a strong practice in maritime litigation.

WFW Athens head George Paleokrassas said: "Antonis and Evangelos are both very highly regarded in the market and their expertise adds a further dimension to our maritime services offering in Greece, enabling us to provide a full-suite, English and Greek law capability of the highest calibre."

Their departures come alongside the exits of Ince London partner duo Renaud Barbier-Emery and Jonathan Goldfarb, who have left to join Norwegian firm Wikborg Rein's UK base. 

Energy and shipping projects partner Goldfarb spent 19 years at Ince, while Barbier-Emery is leaving after more than 21 years at the UK firm. And like Lagadianos and Catsambas, it is understood the two handed in their resignation before the merger discussions with Gordon Dadds got underway. 

Other recent departures from Ince include long-serving commodity trading and shipping partner Ted Graham, who is now a director at Kent-based boutique Sea Green Law.

Last Friday (9 November), Gordon Dadds announced that negotiations regarding the acquisition of Ince were continuing, and that it would be classified as a reverse takeover "under Rule 14 of the Aim Rules for Companies".

The deal was agreed in late October, and Ince's partners will move to a 'black box' pay system when the merger goes live. The tie-up is expected to be completed by 31 December and will create Ince Gordon Dadds, which will have bases in nine countries and about 100 partners.

The latest departures come on the heels of a number of other recent exits, including three partners who joined Stephenson Harwood – maritime insurance head Joe O'Keeffe, Singapore managing partner John Simpson and finance partner Martin Brown.

Junior shipping finance partner Spencer Gold also recently left to become head of legal for finance at Zodiac Maritime.