Hamilton Bradshaw to create first law panel

The new head in-house lawyer at Hamilton Bradshaw, the private equity fund run by James Caan of hit BBC show Dragons’ Den, is set to appoint the ­company’s first formal panel within three months.

Sunil Shah is the first in-house counsel to be employed by the private equity fund. He was ­previously an associate in the corporate finance group at Speechly Bircham and most recently worked at the London office of Icelandic firm Logos.

London-based Hamilton Bradshaw counts Howard Kennedy and Halliwells among its preferred advisers. Both firms are expected to be given places on the new panel, along with specialists in areas such as tax, employment and property.

Shah indicated that he would also be handling more legal work in-house, saying: “James wanted to control more of the legal process. We’re doing most transactions ;in-house, although ;we ;still ;use ­external law firms.”

Hamilton ;Bradshaw makes investments ranging from £500,000 to £20m in a range of small companies and is about to move into new offices to house its growing team.

Shah said of working with the Dragons’ Den star: “He’s very hands-on, so we work with him all the time. It’s not like the ivory tower you’d expect with these ­television celebrities.”