Tax law barristers advise and litigate on all aspects of commercial and personal tax issues. Corporate and business tax matters may involve company or group reconstructions, transfer pricing and the use of losses and capital allowances. Tax planning for individuals can encompass capital gains, inheritance and income tax. Typical cases might concern the sale of a family company or the creation and operation of trusts. Barristers also advise on value added tax and other indirect taxes, including customs and excise duties, landfill tax and stamp duty. Work may involve detailed consideration of EU law and the fiscal laws of other jurisdictions.

Amanda Hardy is a barrister at 15 Old Square, a specialist tax chambers. She studied law at King's College, London, partly inspired by her mum: "She was a solicitor, practising in defamation, so I went with her a few times to court. But I thought being a barrister looked more exciting and thought that was what I wanted to do!" At university, Amanda was advised by her "brilliant" tutor that she might like tax, so she did a minipupillage at all the tax sets and then completed a master's in tax law. She says: "I felt like I needed to know where I was going and that gave me a clear path. It was a new LLM and was quite a small intake. Undergraduate tax only touches the surface, but you can go into a lot more detail in an LLM, which really helps if you are going into a specialist tax practice."

Amanda notes that her set likes people who've done some postgraduate tax, in addition to mini-pupillages, of course: "Once you've got an inkling that tax might be for you, then it's a good idea to apply for minipupillages. Go and see what it's like; it is different from the rest of the Bar. There's lots of paper-based advice and you don't litigate nearly as much as at, say, the Criminal Bar. I'm probably only in court about six times a year, for a day or two each time, compared to a criminal barrister who's there every day."

Amanda did her first six at Erskine Chambers, "which was fantastic", and moved to 15 Old Square for her second six: "It's quite common among tax practitioners to do a first six somewhere else in order to get some litigation experience. At the Tax Bar, you can spend the first few years not doing any court work, and if you haven't done any at pupillage either, when you first appear you can be thrown into the deep end somewhat!" But it was at 15 Old Square that she found her spiritual home.

Even though court appearances are rare, Amanda goes for quality venues: "I'm usually in the High Court, Court of Appeal or House of Lords, or appearing in front of special commissioners. Most days I'll be writing opinions and seeing people in conference. So yesterday I was working on an appeal against an assessment for income tax, looking at documents and working out how to respond to the Revenue's last letter. I discussed things with the solicitor and we formed a plan of action. And today I'm writing an opinion for a charity in relation to a will whereby someone died and claimed charity exemption, but the Revenue refused the claim. In fact, most of my work is working out whether we fight the Revenue or not, so there's always a litigation background. But we only litigate if we have a very good chance of success."

If you like your law fast-paced and everchanging, then tax could be just the practice area for you. Amanda explains: "Tax is the area with the most legislative change because we have a new Finance Act every year and it just gets bigger and bigger. In relation to non-domiciles - a very topical issue at the moment, which I do a lot of work on - the law has changed radically in the last couple of years. It means you have to check it every day. The fact that tax is an area that changes very quickly is one of the things that attracted me, because it's exciting - I change what I'm looking at yearly, if not more often."

A hat trick of House of Lords appearances stands out for Amanda in terms of career highlights: "Along with Robert Venables QC, I won Jerome v Kelly and the Ingram inheritance tax case; and R v Dimsey was interesting because it had a criminal aspect to it. Litigation is secretly what I love to do! But I have a nice balance - it's not a mad life of being in court all the time, but when I do go, it's usually quite exciting."

Amanda describes what she likes most about the job: "I most enjoy the independence and the privileged level of freedom. With long practice at the Bar, I do the work that comes in marked for me, but I can do it in my own way as long as I get things done. There is heavy responsibility that goes with this, in that there's no one to delegate to, but that's the only downside and it's well worth it for the freedom." With three little girls and a need to make it to a lot of sports days, Amanda's managed to achieve an enviable work/life balance.

Contrary to what some might think, good people skills are essential to success in the tax field: "Tax lawyers are often portrayed as funny little men in round glasses, beavering away in the background, but if you want to succeed then you have to enjoy litigation. I don't want chatty people to be put off! Twenty years ago, it was still a very fusty area of law. Now, it's much more about teamwork and bringing together all areas of expertise - solicitor, accountant and barrister - for the client. So people skills are very important and mustn't be overlooked." Equally, commercial savvy is important: "With tax, you have to understand other areas of law, so it follows that a good commercial grasp is important. It all helps to make a good tax barrister."

If you think that tax might be your bag, then there are a variety of things that you can do to prepare, suggests Amanda: "You should study tax at undergraduate level, as well as trusts, and apply for mini-pupillages, which'll help you get an impression of whether this is the area for you. And think seriously about some kind of postgraduate tax qualification - it's not just the LLM; there are also accountancy exams that you can do in a year, which would give you an edge. We almost consider further study a requirement here, although it is still possible to do more while you're here as a pupil. Also, you may consider doing some writing for one of the tax journals - quite daunting to attempt, but it would be very impressive to achieve! At the very least, you should be reading the tax journals to get a sense of the current issues."

Amanda has one final word of advice on the path forward: "You need to persevere, to do as well as you can in your exams, and then just have fun and enjoy your time at university, because it's a long road ahead!" Who knows - it could be a road that leads all the way to the Tax Bar.