Former SJ Berwin solicitor to join Dragons' Den panel

Linney, now the joint chief executive of cloud computing firm Outsourcery, qualified at SJ Berwin in 1997 before leaving law to become an investment banker at the investment banking arm of Barclays Bank and then Credit Suisse.

The qualified solicitor, who has also appeared on Channel 4’s The Secret Millionaire, will join the panel of the reality show alongside regulars Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden and Duncan Bannatyne. Interior designer Kelly Hoppen is also joining the BBC Two show.

Former Dragons’ Den star James Caan, who made his fortune from building a recruitment empire, has begun investing in the legal sector in the last year.

He invested in SME-focused virtual practice Excello Law (6 February 2013) just months after cementing his first foray into the legal sector last year (11 June 2012), when Midlands firm Knights Solicitors took a cash injection from Caan’s private equity house Hamilton Bradshaw.