8.45am: I arrive at my desk having grabbed a bite to eat from the canteen. I check my emails and any voicemails to see if anything important has come in overnight. I am currently midway through my second seat which is in the corporate department. This means there will often be queries to deal with in the build up to a deal or while dealing with post-completion matters.

This morning, I have an email from a client checking on some new companies I had been setting up the previous day for a private equity deal that I am working on. I had to meet the client at his offices the previous day to get forms signed and he is checking that everything has gone through. Happily, all the forms have been filed and I can provide a positive response.

11.20am: A partner asks me to do some research on a prospective target company, a large media company, for a private equity house. This is in preparation for a client meeting this afternoon to discuss the matter. After some initial online research, I head down to the Information Centre (our incumbent expert researchers, among other things), who are incredibly helpful and supportive, to see if they can assist me with finding information from alternative sources.

12.20pm: I return to my desk to find my room in the midst of a heated room frisbee match. Participation is compulsory and so a ten-minute frisbee match ensues. I share a room with two associates of different experience levels and a partner. Sharing a room with people with varying experience means I get an insight into how things work at all levels, whilst also always having the appropriate person on hand whenever I have a question.

12.45pm: Lunchtime training seminars are held a couple of times a week, but today my schedule is free, so I pop down to the canteen to catch up with a few friends in other departments. Trainee intakes are relatively small (25 per year) and mix well, plus there is always plenty of socialising across the firm, be it Friday night drinks, room lunches, wine tasting or sports matches.

1.30pm: Back at my desk, I mark up a confidentiality agreement in relation to a business in which a client might be interested, and, once done, must be first agreed with the solicitors on the other side. I get an email from Tom, the solicitor representing the prospective sellers, agreeing to some, but not all, of my points on the agreement. He suggests we speak to discuss the more contentious points. A pre-call glance at the Law Society's website reveals Tom is four years qualified but, though potentially daunting, such situations always prove to be the best way to learn and there is always an associate on hand should I need anything.

Ultimately, the discussion is productive and is a real learning curve as it tests my knowledge of the points I am discussing and some basic experience of negotiating contractual points - and I certainly feel more confident in my abilities than I did half an hour ago!

4.00pm: I attend the meeting with our client in relation to the research that morning. It is great experience as it gives me some understanding of the process involved in a deal and more context to the work we do. It also feels exciting to be included in such high-level, sensitive discussions.

6.30pm: I receive some documents from the solicitors working on the other side on a deal that is nearing completion. Luckily, there are only a few comments on my drafts and so I make the amendments. A number of 'all trainee' emails have been flying about for the last half hour or so suggesting a drink at the local pub. So, having drawn up a to-do list for the following morning, I head down for a relaxing drink.