Although not strictly a finance lawyer, private equity star David Eich is as equally at home on the debt and equity side of deals as he is when working on the pure acquisition. And with debt playing such a large part in private equity transactions over the past few years, Eich is certainly getting plenty of opportunity to flex his finance muscle. Or as Eich, in his unique style, puts it: "Debt is the highest node in the private equity triptych at the moment."

The Kirkland & Ellis London-based partner is a regular adviser to private equity house Bain Capital, advising on its $7.4bn (£4.05bn) LBO of Toys R Us and its $400m (£218.7m) recapitalisation of Samsonite Corporation.

He can also claim to have Blue Point Capital and Change Capital Partners as frequent clients and can boast of being triple-qualified in the US, England and Wales and Germany. Rare indeed.