David Boies, 67, is founder and chairman of Boies, Schiller & Flexner and one of the top litigators in the US. Mr Boies became a household name while representing Al Gore in the Florida recount battle after the contested 2000 presidential election. He made his reputation as the lawyer for the US government in its successful antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft.

He has argued on behalf of high-profile clients such as Hank Greenberg, the former AIG chairman, and Andrew Fastow, Enron's disgraced former chief financial officer.