Arbitration falls under the broad umbrella of dispute resolution and offers a means for parties to resolve their commercial disputes in a private forum. In practice, arbitration can offer an alternative to protracted courtroom battles. Perceived advantages over traditional litigation include privacy, speed and, on occasion, a level of informality which can allow, for example, the parties to avoid the expense of a detailed disclosure exercise.

It is perhaps no surprise that Mark Beeley's path to becoming an associate in Vinson & Elkin's international dispute resolution group involved a detour via the Bar: "I was definitely attracted to advocacy, so I did my BVC at Nottingham Law School and was called to the Bar in 2001. However, I started my working life paralegalling at Herbert Smith and then here, while I was looking for a pupillage. I was encouraged to count my time as a paralegal towards qualifying as a solicitor and I've never looked back! Arbitration satisfies my need to be an advocate and I'm doing today what I always wanted to."

Mark is one of the new(ish) breed of solicitor advocates, so has full rights of audience in all English courts: "In most cases I'll stick on the old gown (no wig, unfortunately!) and do the advocacy myself, rather than instructing a barrister. I think that if you're torn between being a barrister or a solicitor, acting as arbitration counsel offers a unique opportunity to get the best of both worlds."

The work of an international arbitrator encompasses a wide range of legal topics across a huge number of countries, leading to an incredibly varied professional life. Mark explains: "Each day normally kicks off with a round of urgent emails and phone calls from the Far East. Once I've fought those fires, I spend time working on pleadings, developing witness statements and writing increasingly tense letters to the opposing side. Then the United States wakes up and you have another barrage of emergencies to deal with. So the role is very much 24/7."

Much of Mark's caseload involves disputes between energy companies and governments. He gives a current example: "I'm working on a case that's been going on for eight years, acting for a UK company and an Indian company which are in dispute with the Indian government. The company's oilfield has far more oil in it than originally thought, so the issue is how much tax should be paid and how the profits should be shared."

As you might expect, international travel is very much a feature of the job, with Mark taking between three and four business trips each month. He describes the exciting global opportunities that await: "I spend a lot of time in India, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. I'm also in Latin America fairly regularly, as well as the United States, parts of Africa and the Middle East. We have to go where the client needs us to be, so we may need to talk to an engineer on an oil rig or somewhere else equally inhospitable. In fact, we've just started taking cases in Iraq, which is a pretty unique environment - you're sitting there in a compound with your flak jacket on! But that keeps it fresh; even if two cases have similar legal backgrounds, if one is in Nigeria and the other in the Far East, there will be a very different slant." He notes wryly that the ability to cope with jet lag is a distinct advantage!

In terms of career highs, Mark describes two victories at the opposite ends of the spectrum: "I secured a very big win against the Indian government, with a £500 million award for our client. I'd been in charge of running the case and the advocacy, so it was very satisfying. At the other end of the scale, I did a pro bono case a few years ago, helping someone's grandfather who'd been evicted from a care home. That was a rare opportunity to make a difference to someone on a very personal level."

Adrenaline junkies should apply here: "For any litigator, you get into it because you thrive on the adrenaline of the fight and beating the other side. There's nothing like a judgment that says you're the winner and the other side is the loser!" But with every win comes the risk of a loss, and you have to be tough enough to handle that.

When it comes to the law more generally, Mark explains why clients' heightened cost sensitivity in these straitened times could end up revolutionising the profession: "As users of legal services become more sophisticated, combined with a glut of lawyers, there is a pressure to move to fixed fee arrangements, rather than an hourly rate. I think we're going to have to take a long, hard look at things; with the traditional model, there is zero risk for us as lawyers, but clients now want you to have a stake in the game yourself."

In terms of arbitration, a debate is raging as to whether it has fallen victim to its own success. "Twenty years ago, arbitration was more niche," Mark explains. "Ten years ago, it wasn't really taught in universities. Now every firm claims to have an arbitration group and the world is awash with arbitrators. But there is the danger of killing the goose that laid the golden egg, as more and more people expect that arbitration should run in the same way as a domestic court proceeding, rather than offering the quicker, cheaper, more tailored alternative it was intended to be."

If you would like to join this burgeoning league of arbitrators, Mark recommends demonstrating some wider international interest, such as having a language or travelling: "While French and German are impressive, one of the big world languages such as Spanish is better, in that it opens up all of South America. Getting out there, travelling and showing an interest in international politics is also good - maybe reading The Economist - so that when you get to interview, you can show that you know a bit about the world and how it works."

Mooting, debating and the Free Representation Unit are all great to get stuck into, to prove "you're not scared of getting up and persuading people to your way of thinking". And that means both orally and on paper: "Written communication is so important. The ability to look at a large amount of data and find one or two things that are critical is essential." Finally, Mark points out that common sense is essential - but appreciates it can be difficult to demonstrate.

More generally, Mark stresses the importance of standing out from the crowd: "There was a time where everyone was going off to Kenya to build schools - that's a great experience and great for that community, but how does it make you a better lawyer? You have to be able to sell what you've done. For example, a year working in a restaurant may find you negotiating with customers, multi-tasking and managing relations with colleagues. Explaining all of that will get you as high marks as building an orphanage in the Himalayas." A commitment to learning about the profession is also vital, by way of vac schemes and minipupillages.

Finally, something that still has the power to surprise Mark is the headstrong nature of clients: "I'm astonished at how often they ask for beautifully crafted advice, which you offer, only for them to go off and ignore you! The reality is that we can offer advice, but we can't make people take it. And you have to learn to be very good at picking up the pieces and not saying, 'I told you so'!"