Housing/landlord and tenant law embraces all aspects of residential and commercial tenancies and covers issues as diverse as anti-social behaviour, disrepair, human rights, possession claims, succession and assignment. Clients might include local authorities, registered providers of social housing, private landlords and, of course, tenants.

Mark Diggle was set on a legal career from a tender age - at a mere nine years old he was already poring over the Penguin Guide to the Law in the library. A fan of the classic 1970s TV show Crown Court, he was determined to make his childhood ambitions a reality: "Without wanting to sound too sad, I knew from junior school that I wanted to be a lawyer, and a barrister from A-level stage. I wanted to speak in court and I assumed that was what barristers did, while solicitors didn't."

After his law degree, a master's in international commercial law at Nottingham and the BVC at the Inns of Court School of Law, Mark started his pupillage at Ropewalk Chambers, which was great preparation for what was in store for him as a qualified barrister: "It was tough and there were times when I thought it wasn't for me, but I stuck at it and it prepared me for practice. It was totally relevant and necessarily tough."

Called to the Bar in 1996, Mark now enjoys a broad spread of work, including all aspects of housing law, from homelessness, anti-social behaviour and residential possession actions through to more general landlord and tenant cases of both long domestic leases and commercial tenancies. The latter can involve all manner of points, including complicated questions about the construction of a commercial lease. In court three or four days a week, he gives some examples of recent case: "This morning, I was at a committal of someone who had breached an undertaking not to behave anti-socially. A couple of days ago, I was advising a prospective landlord of a public house with a sitting tenant on the steps needed to take vacant possession of the property. So it can range from advising on a difficult clause through to keeping someone out of prison." Mark's view is that one helps with the other: "If you come to a bog-standard tenancy agreement with a commercial mindset, you have an edge on how you might argue something is construed."

A six-day fraud and misrepresentation trial early in his career was particularly satisfying, while more recently Mark secured a memorable victory in the Court of Appeal: "In 2009 I did an appeal on the construction of the word 'hearing' in Part 55 of the Civil Procedure Rules and whether it was a trial within the meaning of Part 39. That win was probably my favourite moment so far; we were on the back foot, but I had the idea to run a particular argument, and we ran it successfully from the county court all the way to the Court of Appeal."

As you'd hope, one of Mark's favourite parts of the job is "the combat", as he puts it: "I love having to think on my feet, making tactical decisions on the spot and pitting my wits against a worthy opponent. I'm lucky that I still go to court a lot." Paperwork holds less appeal: "I can sometimes have days and days of doing nothing but paperwork, which is necessary, but can be a bit of a drag."

Based in Nottingham, Mark thinks there are real advantages to working in the regional Bar, including a great quality of life and fewer people doing the job. However, he acknowledges that had he pursued his interest in international commercial law, he probably would have had to relocate to London.

In terms of hot topics in the housing world, Mark explains why the relatively new Tenancy Deposit Scheme is not proving popular with the judiciary: "The idea behind the scheme is that if a landlord doesn't register a deposit, he is automatically liable to pay the tenant three times the value of the deposit. It is targeted at those landlords who don't give the deposit back when they should, but it is pretty draconian and the judiciary seem to be interpreting the provisions narrowly." As in other areas, the proposed legal aid changes are also a threat: "Legal aid won't be available for claims of disrepair, unless there is significant risk to health and life. This opens the way to unscrupulous landlords in the private housing sector, where they already have the resources on their side. It is taking away access to justice, and slum landlords will be able to get away with it more easily because they won't be challenged as often."

And 'challenging' is just the word when it comes to succeeding as a barrister in today's fiercely competitive environment. Mark explains how to stand out and get ahead: "You've got to have tenacity. There's no point giving up at the first sign of resistance. I sit on the pupillage committee at Ropewalk Chambers; we have just two places each year and normally receive around 100 applications, so you can only wonder what it's like at the big chambers in London. You need to be tenacious to get in the door, and once you're actually practising, you can't roll over in the face of a killer point." Just as important is the ability to talk to all kinds of people in all kinds of situation: "From local authority tenants who won't have confidence in someone who uses words they don't understand to the CEO of a large company in relation to a tenancy, it's all about inspiring confidence in your client."

With sterling academic achievements a prerequisite, Mark admits: "I'm not sure I would have succeeded if I were filling out one of today's application forms! Everyone seems to have 15 A stars at A-level and have climbed Everest! So alongside exceptional academic results, we're looking for people who've put themselves into the legal context, such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Free Representation Unit or law centre work. That sort of thing will make us sit up and read your application form closely.

If you don't want to annoy this barrister - or almost any other barrister we've ever talked to - make sure you proofread that application carefully. Mark explains why: "I know it's a cliché, but misspelled words, apostrophes in the wrong place and general typos mean that your application immediately loses its substance, because whoever is reading it is mithering about poor grammar. You must have a properly presented, grammatically correct and fully proofread form. Remember that a lot of advocacy these days is written - skeleton arguments, advices and pleadings - and it's your first chance to make an impression on the judge. If he or she has a favourable impression from your paperwork, you're on the front foot. If your paperwork is full of mistakes, he or she will be put right off."

This gripe aside, Mark's view is that this is a great career for the committed and he thinks that even knowing about the "long hours and lack of social life" wouldn't have stopped him - and nor should it you!