The partnership board at the provincial English law firm Knights is preparing for the shock of its professional life. The archetypical figure of buccaneering commercialism — kitted out in open-necked shirt and bright stripy suit — is about to plonk himself down at the top table and state: “I’m in.”
James Caan — the celebrity entrepreneur who made a fortune in the executive headhunting business and went on to star in the BBC series Dragons’ Den — has just become the highest-profile manifestation of the radically changing legal profession with the announcement that his private equity company, Hamilton Bradshaw, is buying into the three-branch solicitors’ firm.
The deal — which requires Knights to become an alternative business structure under legislation implemented at the start of