BAA's Robert Herga describes himself as a hands-on legal director. Indeed, the BAA veteran and his legal team of seven lawyers and one legal executive have had their hands full for much of the past 12 months. For a considerable chunk of 2006 Herga, who has been with the UK airports operator for 17 years, played a key role on the takeover of the company by Spain's Gruppo Ferrovial.

The high-profile deal captured the imaginations of both the City and press, with two rival bidders - Ferrovial and a Goldman Sachs-led consortium advised by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Ashurst respectively - battling it out until the bitter end.

And as if that was not enough to contend with, BAA was then thrown into an OFT market study. The legal work arising out of the study was handled entirely in-house. It is expected that the case will be referred to the Competition Commission.