Chris Tucker

I only considered a career in law during my third year at University and was attracted to Pinsent Masons by its commercial focus and its reputation and scale. My experience on the Vacation Placement scheme strengthened my positive first impressions of the firm, which meant I had no hesitation in accepting the firm's offer. In particular, I was impressed with the degree to which I was encouraged to get involved with work and the efforts the people around me made to make that possible. I remember attending a tribunal and the solicitor who was handling the matter spent time going through the bundles with me, making sure I knew the background and that I understood what we were trying to achieve. Whilst she wasn't my supervisor, she was keen to share her experience and to help to train and develop me, even though I was a vacation student.

The firm's commercial focus is evident in everything - it doesn't want to be just another law firm. Being a lawyer is only half the job - you have to be a business advisor as well. There is an emphasis on understanding the client's business, being able to say 'here's the law, here's how it's relevant to your business situation'. A commercial mindset is fundamental to the firm's approach and sets us out from the crowd.

My first seat was in the Corporate department and I walked straight into a completion of a large transaction. I worked long hours in my first week, which was a shock to the system, but I was immediately made to feel part of the team. Although I have rarely felt as tired as at the end of the transaction, it created a sense of satisfaction. I had a real sense of achievement and the feedback I received from the people around me was very rewarding.

My second seat was in the Property department. This proved to be an interesting contrast to Corporate. The highlight was drafting a 'wayleave' agreement from scratch. I've also been asked to produce a complicated certificate of title, which is not a typical trainee job. The attitude at the firm is that if you show you are capable then you'll be given new challenges. Seeing the final piece of work go out to the client with my name on it was tremendously satisfying.

My third seat was in Employment. I immediately found it interesting because it's quite a human area of law. We usually act for companies but the cases deal with individual circumstances and there is always something in the case with which you can identify from everyday life. One case I worked on was an unfair dismissal claim, where it went to tribunal. I prepared the bundles for court and then spent three weeks at the tribunal where my role was to take detailed notes and to be the point of contact between the office, the tribunal and our client. It was great to be given such a position of responsibility, to be the sole representative from the firm for the majority of the time. It also gave me a great opportunity to get to know our client as I was there with them every day for three weeks, and although it was quite tense in court, the tribunal was held at a festive time of year so we managed to have fun as well.

As someone who initially studied history before moving into law, I have found that the skills I learnt at university are relevant to my job here. Apart from the obvious written skills, law, like history, demands a high level of analytical detail. You need to weigh up arguments but then be able to take a step back and analyse the whole situation, to see the big commercial picture. When you're working on a deal that involves numerous departments, you're part of a much wider transaction and you can't just concentrate on your own small part. You have to understand how your part fits into the greater whole, to understand the commercial ramifications of the whole deal.

I really enjoy working with other teams at Pinsent Masons, perhaps because each team has the same values and we're working towards the same goal. We have regular social nights where we're encouraged to get to know people in across the firm and develop contacts, there so that you can feel free to contact them with queries or problems and so make the most of the knowledge and experience of the whole firm. There's definitely a firm-wide attitude at Pinsent Masons, rather than a departmental attitude.