Nicola Allsop is a barrister at New Square Chambers, which offers a concentration of experience in chancery and commercial work. Nicola studied at the University of Bristol and then undertook the BVC at BPP in London before embarking on pupillage. Even during her undergraduate law degree, she knew that she wanted a commercial practice: “It was the area of law I enjoyed the most. I would look up points of law for my pupil masters; there was a considerable amount of paperwork. It was based a lot on academic research, a lot of work in the Inns of Court libraries and even going up to the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in Russell Square. From a pupil’s point of view, there were restrictions on how much I could get involved. There were numerous conferences, just not so much court work.”

That’s the main difference with Nicola’s work now that she’s a barrister with five years’ call: “You go to court an awful lot more as a junior than as a pupil. The fundamental flaw in pupillage is that you’re sitting with a pupil master who is usually 10 or 15 years’ call and so, in the commercial context, that person does not go to court very often but, as a junior, I’m in court about three days a week.”

So what’s an average day like? Nicola explains: “I’ll arrive in chambers at about 8.30am and I’ll usually be in court in the morning on some sort of application, which will last for approximately an hour. That will be in either the High Court in front of a bankruptcy or companies registrar or in front of the High Court applications judge in chancery, or in a London county court. It may be an application for an injunction in the context of a winding up petition or it might be a case management conference in a contractual dispute. Then I’ll go back to chambers and have lunch at my desk. I’ll check my diary and see if anything’s come in. I always have a couple of opinions to be getting on with or preparation for the next hearing.”

At any one time, Nicola will be working on a dozen cases but will have “another 20 which are liable to blow up but which I’m not actively doing any work on”. At the moment, she’s working on a very interesting shareholder dispute and recently did a trial which involved a misappropriated sports car: “It was a legal and factual dispute with plenty of scope for cross-examination and legal submission.”

What Nicola enjoys most is learning about all the different businesses for which she acts. She says: “One day I might be learning about pig breeding, and the next day, it’s the ins and outs of computer networking and firewalls. It gives me a far greater understanding of business and commerce and its interaction with the law. In terms of a career, I like the challenge of the work, the independence and the fact that I’m learning about other businesses that I wouldn’t otherwise be involved with.”

However, the nature of the profession can sometimes be quite frustrating. “There are still occasions on which I am instructed at short notice,” she explains, “which sometimes means that I have to give up plans at the last minute.”

In commercial law, Nicola notes that you need thorough preparation: “There’s often more law involved than for a criminal barrister, for example, who is more likely to go to court and argue over the facts of the case. In commercial, there’s more scope to develop legal arguments.” This requires a certain level of intelligence and what Nicola describes as “the ability to explain what can be quite complicated aspects of the law to lay clients so that they’re able to make a decision as to the best way forward in a case”. She continues: “You need to be a good communicator. And in commercial law especially, it’s not just about being a good advocate in court, it’s also about having good negotiating skills when dealing with opponents.”

Nicola thinks that if you’re interested in becoming a barrister, you should go and sit in court. You’ll also need “to show an interest and have an awareness of recent legal developments. It doesn’t hurt to read the law section in The Times. And, of course, do mini-pupillages.”

Nicola herself did several mini-pupillages. Because she knew she wanted to practise commercial law, Nicola went directly to commercial sets: “I think it’s important to do mini-pupillages in commercial sets. If someone applies to us and they’ve only done mini-pupillages in criminal sets, we might raise an eyebrow. I think it’s essential to have a minimum of a good 2.1. If you haven’t, then you’d need to consider doing a master’s in a commercially related area of the law. Any business-related experience will help. I was quite well prepared coming into the profession because I’d done mini-pupillages.”

Nicola has one final piece of advice for those about to embark on a career at the Bar: “There is an unbelievable amount of time spent waiting at the Bar; mainly waiting at court which can be frustrating.” However, she sums up the profession as “extremely demanding but extremely rewarding – winning in court gives you a buzz like nothing else”.