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A group of former Ince & Co partners have brought in Eversheds Sutherland for a dispute over money they claim they are owed by their former firm, as tensions mount over the pre-pack administration takeover by Gordon Dadds.

Eversheds Sutherland banking litigation partner Jamie Leader is advising a group of ex-Ince partners who are attempting to claim capital back from their former firm, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Ill-feeling over the terms of Ince's pre-pack administration has begun to emerge in recent weeks, with several ex-partners telling Legal Week that they feel 'betrayed' by their former colleagues over the deal, which saw Gordon Dadds acquire the firm's UK business.

The terms of the deal mean ex-partners are now facing losses of as much as £500,000, including six-figure personal loans paid into the firm, a potential tax bill, and earnings that could be clawed back from partners if it is deemed that Ince had been trading insolvent for some time.

Ince's last set of accounts were completed up to April 2017, but according to joint administrator Andrew Hosking, this means former and current partners cannot rule out being subject to a claim by Quantuma, which is acting as the administrator on the process.

Earlier this month, Legal Week revealed that process has been delayed due to a dispute between Ince's UK and French branches over settling who owes what to the process. Each party has suggested the other owes a figure of as much as £2m.

The future of some of Ince's international offices is still to be resolved, with the firm's French  bases in Paris, Marseille and Le Havre in talks to join Gide Loyrette Nouel. Meanwhile, the firm's Monaco office is facing an uncertain future, amid a dispute over a deal said to have been agreed before the Gordon Dadds takeover to allow it to break away from the merged firm.