Chancery work is split into two areas: traditional and commercial chancery litigation. Traditional chancery includes trusts, probate, real property and tax, while commercial chancery covers a wide range of finance and business disputes. Chancery work often has an international dimension, relating to asset tracing, cross-border insolvency and offshore trusts. Chancery barristers present cases before tribunals up to Supreme Court level and draft a wide range of documentation.

A chancery specialist at Wilberforce Chambers, Emily McKechnie was inspired to embark on a career at the Bar partly by conversations she'd had at university with barristers who were passionate about their jobs: "I went along to numerous careers fairs and was really struck by how many of the barristers I spoke to seemed to love their work. That, and the fact I liked academic challenge and advocacy, persuaded me that the Bar was the natural choice."

Her pupillage at Wilberforce Chambers was a happy, if sometimes stressful time. "It was a steep learning curve as a lot of the work was completely unfamiliar," remembers Emily. "I'd done four years of law already - as an undergraduate and through my LLM - but that didn't really help during my first few months when I sat with a pensions expert. When I started, I didn't have a clue what pensions were legally, but I'd be given complicated sets of papers and was asked to review them and suggest the best way forward." However, stress levels were kept to a minimum by Wilberforce's policy of giving pupils only one piece of work at a time, rather than piling on the pressure with multiple instructions: "Being able to concentrate on getting to grips with one thing at a time really helps in the early stages. I know that in some chambers the emphasis is on doing as much work as you can, to prove yourself to as many people as possible, but at Wilberforce we don't think that teaches you an awful lot and it can make your life as a pupil very unpleasant."

An affinity for the subject matter is one of the main reasons Emily went down the chancery route: "During my law degree I found that I liked areas such as contract and land law, and that I preferred dealing with commercial and financial matters. Added to the fact that I didn't want to do the kind of advocacy that would require me to be in court every day, receiving papers at the last minute, and chancery seemed a good option. I got the impression from speaking to criminal and family barristers that their jobs were hectic, court heavy and involved last-minute preparation, which isn't how I wanted my career to be. I did want to do advocacy, but I also wanted the opportunity to think more deeply about matters." Emily also likes the variety of chancery, which is notoriously broad in scope: "It's an even broader area than it used to be. At Wilberforce we do trusts, property, financial services, professional negligence (not including clinical negligence), company and insolvency, general contractual and commercial disputes, and pensions. I love doing such a mix; unlike a lot of jobs, there's never a dull day - everything I do is different and everything is intellectually stimulating."

The cases Emily most enjoys are those that combine a commercial/financial element with litigation - for example, litigious pensions, contentious trusts or professional negligence disputes where there's a financial aspect. Around 40% of her time is spent on pensions cases; one of her most memorable was a high-profile battle over the Pilots' National Pension Fund, which she spent three weeks watching at the High Court: "There were 18 barristers acting for nine different parties arguing complicated legal issues before a specialist judge. It was an incredibly instructive couple of weeks. It was entertaining to watch that level of advocacy and exciting to be in the thick of it."

Along with high-octane cases, another major plus to Emily's job is the flexibility. "I get a lot of control over my own time," she says. "If you want to be successful, you have to work hard, but to some extent you can work hard when you want to. No one tells me what time to get to chambers in the morning - I arrive when I think it's appropriate, given my workload. I'm not subject to somebody else's whims." But with this level of autonomy comes an inevitable amount of stress: "Sometimes the job can be hard because, ultimately, it's your call. Your client and solicitor are looking to you for the ultimate decision - usually on a matter that is complicated, where there is no right answer. The client is putting a lot of money into the tactics you're suggesting and, particularly if instructions come in at the last minute or there is a lack of detail, it can be stressful. I take the view that an intellectually stimulating job is going to be stressful from time to time, so it's something I bear - but I don't always find it easy."

The nature of the work demands self-belief. "You need enough confidence (without arrogance) in your own judgement to know that you can ultimately make the decision," says Emily, "but enough wisdom to know that you've got to go away and do thorough research." Understanding that there isn't always a perfect solution to her clients' problems is a lesson that took time to learn: "It took me a while to grasp the fact that there isn't always a 'right' answer (your clients probably wouldn't be coming to you if there were). Sometimes at the beginning of my career I'd be endlessly searching for the correct answer and losing confidence in the process. I eventually realised that evaluating the facts and researching the law thoroughly was often just the process I needed to go through before I could make a judgement call. To do this every day, you need selfconfidence; otherwise, you'll be endlessly uncertain and you can't work like that."

Mental agility is also a must to be a good chancery lawyer. Because commercial and chancery work is intellectually demanding, a good degree is important: "Concentrate on getting the best degree you can. It's incredibly competitive and the emphasis is on your intellectual ability. You also need outstanding written ability because your first chance to put your case before a judge is usually in written submissions. The ability to communicate clearly and confidently is something you won't get by without. You won't be able to get the trust of the judge; nor will you be able to explain to your client and solicitor what is happening in the case." If you've got the requisite skills and a desire to practise in a rich and varied area, a chance on chancery could be for you.