8.45am: My day starts with breakfast from Cloud 9, our staff restaurant, on the roof terrace that has incredible views of the City of London. It is a good way to catch up with fellow colleagues and find out what is going on within the firm. Topic of conversation today is the intra-office football tournament, held this year in Munich. Despite reaching the semi-finals, we lost to the Munich office on penalties and I receive large amounts of grief for being the player to miss the vital penalty! 9.00am: My first task is to read my emails to see if there are any new instructions from clients. I add these to my to-do list. In my current seat, real estate disputes, I spend a lot of time dealing with large commercial property-owning clients, mostly on lease renewals and the recovery of outstanding arrears. This involves liaising with managing agents and surveyors for numerous properties, and it means that I must keep track of their requirements and directions timetables from the court. I then prepare for a meeting with my supervisor.11.00am: I walk to Chambers with my supervising partner, where we have a meeting with our client and counsel. We are discussing the merits of our case for an upcoming arbitration and spend time dissecting the other parties' witness statements. We discuss the approach we want to take at the arbitration and counsel begins to focus on the line of cross-examination he intends to pursue.From day one you are encouraged to take on as much responsibility as you can handle and gain as much experience as you can. Within my current seat this has meant frequent trips to court for hearings with counsel, and has allowed me to deal with my own clients with support and encouragement from my supervisor.1.00pm: Once a week I read to two young children from a local primary school as part of the firm's pro bono scheme. It really is one of the highlights of my week, trying to teach two enthusiastic five-year-olds to read. Invariably this leads to singing and drawing â - they certainly bring a smile to my face, and today is no exception.

I grab a sandwich before getting back to my desk.2.00pm: I gather the documents I have prepared for a hearing at a London district court. We are seeking possession of a property for a client and the recovery of large sums of outstanding rent. We are eager to see if the defendant will show up as he has not been seen for a long time.We were all surprised to see the defendant arrive. To say he had previously been hard to pin down is an understatement, with several aliases and false names to keep me occupied. Thankfully, our client regained possession of the property and was awarded costs.4.00pm: I get an email from my supervisor to discuss some research he would like me to do. It involves the enforceability of a restrictive covenant. This is to take priority over any other work and I immediately start researching case law for recent examples that may be useful. I give the research to my supervisor who discusses it with me.6.00pm: I am aware that the deadline to prepare the arbitration bundles is looming and I make a start on the index list. I have discussed with my supervisor which documents we need from the original disclosure list. Once the index is completed it will be sent to the other side's solicitors. 6.45pm: I join my fellow trainees for the Taylor Wessing quiz, which raises money for charity. I am confident that my team stands a good chance of not losing. After a few beers we finish third (out of 14) and I am happy that we can show our faces in the department again tomorrow morning.