8.00am: I always start my day with a good breakfast at Silks, Linklaters' newly refurbished restaurant. At this time of day there are always lawyers milling about, getting cups of coffee from the baristas (who all know you by name) or catching up on the BBC News Channel.

10.00am: The nature of the work in my department means that I'm the main trainee on my deal, which currently involves the sale by auction of various businesses for one of our client banks. There's always ongoing work on deals like this so mornings usually consist of going through emails and replying to requests from the client and the other side.

11.30am: As a trainee in the corporate department you have the opportunity to co-ordinate and manage aspects of the deal - this gives you a wide understanding of the deal mechanics, from negotiating the tax structure to applying for regulatory licences in different jurisdictions. When I first arrived in my seat I was instantly given responsibility for the data room and due diligence aspects of the deal. If someone wants to know something about the data room, they come to me. It's great to have a certain amount of ownership and autonomy in such a major transaction.

12.00pm: What makes Linklaters stand out is the absolutely superb training. More senior lawyers are always mindful of your development and are always ready to give you feedback and to spend time explaining the intricate parts of the deal. The lawyers you work for push you hard and demand a lot, but what surprised me when I started was how much people believe in you. People know that if you've been hired by Linklaters you must be capable; they encourage you to reach your potential and encourage excellence in everything you do.

1.00pm: On my lunch break, I attend a presentation about volunteering to be a mentor for students at a school in Hackney. Everyone is encouraged to get involved in both legal and non-legal voluntary work, and there are plenty of opportunities to do this.

3.30pm: Back in the office, my team and I are hosting a meeting with many senior heads of business from our client bank. I have to finalise the documentation they will be looking through, and rush it downstairs to one of our many conference rooms. We go through the disclosures that they will be making against warranty statements in the contract. I am making notes throughout this because afterwards, an associate and I will process the notes and prepare a schedule. The quality of work at Linklaters is fantastic. Most of our clients are widely known, and the work is newsworthy and topical; it's fantastic seeing the FT include an article about one of the deals you're working on.

5.30pm: I grab dinner at a very popular sushi place around the corner from the office with another trainee in my department. Linklaters has a particularly sociable culture. Because our hours are longer than a standard 9-5, very strong friendships are cultivated amongst trainees and other lawyers, especially because trainees have spent some time together studying the Linklaters-specific LPC.

6.30pm: I have to go back to the office after dinner for a couple of hours - we need to finalise the disclosure schedule by the end of the week and there are a lot of different people we need to contact to confirm various different statements. I finish by working on some articles of association for a large multinational client - they are updating their articles to be up-to-date with the Companies Act 2006, and I have been asked by a partner to have a first go at amending them. All in all, Linklaters is an incredible training environment - the variety of work, the exposure to talented colleagues and the international experiences all combine to create a first-class training contract.