Personal injury (PI) law deals with compensation for accidents and diseases. This area of law is flourishing in light of the recognition of new types of physical and mental illness. The subject matter varies considerably and can range from controversial, high-profile disaster cases to road traffic accidents to health and safety cases involving what one lawyer describes as "trippers, slippers and whiplash".

Sarah Prager is a barrister at 1 Chancery Lane, a leading civil common law set. She studied law at the University of Nottingham. Almost certainly influenced by the glamour of TV lawyers, she was always sure that she wanted to be a barrister: "I think Rumpole of the Bailey and Kavanagh QC made it look like fun. But although I wanted to do crime when I started, I actually went on to find civil work more interesting, so things didn't end up quite as I thought they would."

After Bar school at the Inns of Court School of Law, Sarah spent a year paralegalling before securing pupillage. She says her year out proved beneficial in the long run: "I didn't get pupillage the first time round, so I wanted to do something that would make my CV more attractive. If you have to take a year out, I would definitely recommend paralegalling, provided it's not just photocopying! Rather, you want to be attending small hearings, meeting clients and taking statements if possible. It's also useful because you get a sense of what solicitors want; the partners at my firm gave me loads of advice on what they appreciate in, and find annoying about, barristers."

With that invaluable experience under her belt, Sarah went on to do her pupillage at 5 Pump Court. She recalls: "It was really good. They do family, civil and criminal, so one day I could be doing a shoplifting hearing, the next a wounding trial, the next an employment tribunal, the next an inquest. I got a little taste of everything. I also did a lot of court work and was shouted at by judges in every court imaginable, so it's not scary any more! Pupillage is a really steep learning curve, but the harder it is, the more valuable it is in practice later on."

Taken on as a tenant, Sarah stayed at 5 Pump Court for six years before deciding to change the nature of her practice: "I wanted to drop crime and then decided also to steer away from family. I wanted to specialise in civil, and more specifically travel, so I moved to 1 Chancery Lane."

With her PI practice established, Sarah now handles predominantly travel-related matters, acting for both claimants and defendants. She explains the huge area that PI covers: "It is everything from traffic accidents to trip and slips to food poisoning to travel, which is what I do most of. It is essentially people who've gone overseas and suffered an injury - PI abroad, if you will! I have one case at the moment where a woman went through a jetty that was under construction and straight into the sea. I've also got a case with a large number of people who went abroad and got food poisoning from an allegedly filthy hotel. I'm acting for the tour operator in that one. Another case involves a number of people who went on a cruise and got the norovirus. In terms of size, I handle matters that involve one person for around £5,000 to £10,000, up to 200 people for significant sums. That's the good thing about PI - it's really varied, dealing with all kinds of different facts and law."

Time spent in court "goes in waves, so I can be there five days a week for three months and then not at all for weeks. At the moment, I'm in court four days a week, which is fairly high, compared to some other practice areas". Sarah works all over the country, travelling from Exeter to Newcastle to Norwich to Canterbury to London (although not all in one day, we hasten to add!). This nomadic life is one of the least enjoyable parts of the job, she says: "You think it'll be interesting, but you never really see the places you're going to. Instead, you drag yourself out of bed and to the train station, onto the train, out at the other end and to court, and then reverse it all to come home. And if you've been travelling for five hours before you even get to your destination, you feel like you've already done a day's work!"

Nevertheless, all the journeying is worth it for the courtroom high. Sarah says: "Being in court is the reason I always wanted to do this: standing up and doing something on your own, where it's up to you to convince the judge. Sometimes the case depends entirely on what you say rather than any particular facts, and that's exciting. And everyone has to listen to you!"

Vindication is sweet, says Sarah, especially when you've gone out on a limb: "There was one case where I'd advised the client that we'd definitely win and then we lost. The judge made a bad decision so I told them they had a 100% chance of success at appeal. I started to worry when we got to the High Court that I'd been too hasty and maybe I was wrong, but we won and it was hugely satisfying because I'd put myself on the line. It also changed the law for a whole class of cases and it has been relied on and publicised since."

In order to succeed as a PI barrister, you need to think outside the proverbial box, explains Sarah: "You need to think creatively when looking at a problem and try to see a way through it that no one else has yet been able to. Of course you need to know the law and be intelligent, but it's that extra ability to think freely, imaginatively and outside expectations that will separate a good barrister from a great one with real flair. You also need persistence and courage because it's quite an insecure job and you never know where your next brief is coming from." Added to which you must be bright and "prepared to think really hard about things".

All work and no play makes budding barristers very dull and unhappy indeed, says Sarah: "It's helpful to do mini-pupillages, but I wouldn't do more than about half a dozen to see different kinds of work and sets. It's important to have a life also - you won't be a good barrister if you don't have other interests. We see lots of people coming through who've devoted their whole lives to getting here, never having a break because they've been doing mini-pupillages and work experience and never getting off the treadmill. One-dimensional people are no good to us, because you've got to meet with clients and opponents and convince judges, and that's not possible without any social skills. So follow your interests and nurture them outside the Bar, because that will make you a better barrister."

And don't worry if at first you don't succeed - try, try and try again, exhorts Sarah: "If you don't get somewhere the first time round, it's not such a bad thing. I didn't get pupillage the first time, but the one I eventually got was the best one I could have had. People can be better for having been rejected; failure makes you a tougher person and tests whether what you're doing is what you really want to do. You get knockbacks in this career all the time, but if you're persistent and suited to the job, it will happen."