Company/commercial and corporate lawyers advise on complex transactions and work closely with other specialist departments in acting for businesses of all sizes. General company law work involves advising on company directors' rights, duties and responsibilities, company board meetings, memoranda and articles of association, company secretarial matters and shareholders' rights.

Corporate transactional work concerns mergers and acquisitions, demergers and restructurings, joint ventures, takeovers, equity financings, privatisations, initial public offerings and new issues of shares and other securities on the international markets.

James Longster's interest in the law first began to stir as a GCSE student, when he undertook a stint of legal work experience organised by his school; but it wasn't until he had completed a number of mini-pupillages and vacation schemes during his law degree that he realised the profession was for him. "I wanted to study law from an early age," he recalls, "but I still wasn't decided whether I wanted to practise it. It was only after I started studying it properly and did a few placements that I thought that it was actually something I wanted to do."

These placements also steered James away from the Bar and towards life as a solicitor. "I've got friends at the Bar who will argue that this isn't the case," he ventures, "but I think there is much more of a feeling of community in a firm of solicitors. I also think that there is more client contact, which was important to me."

It was on one of those vac schemes during his second year that James landed a training contract at Travers Smith. He enthuses that the placements are the perfect way to match potential trainees with law firms, as they give both sides an invaluable insight into the way that a future relationship might work. "Every firm sounds fantastic on paper," he elaborates. "They all say they are unique and that they do great work and so on, so it is very hard for students to ascertain exactly which one will be best for them. I think actually being in the environment - even if it is only for one or two weeks - gives you a feel for the firm and for the people who will be working around you, and is immensely useful. Not only that, but the way Travers Smith works - and no doubt some other firms too - is that you can be offered a training contract directly from your performance during your vac scheme, so it eliminates the need for further training contract interviews."

James settled into his training contract pretty quickly, and while he admits it was a major step up in terms of the work required, he thinks that the LPC prepared him pretty well. He is also quick to point out that the transition from university to professional life was smoothed by his new colleagues: "It was made very easy by Travers Smith," he says. "I think there were about 15 trainees in my intake and I got on really well with everyone. My first seat was banking, and the partner and associate I sat with were very knowledgeable and great fun, so they really helped me to feel at home at the firm."

When the time came to qualify, James was in little doubt about his chosen area, and although this coincided with one of the most daunting times for trainee solicitors in recent history, he was fortunate to land his first choice of commercial law.

Travers Smith has separate corporate and commercial departments; while the corporate department is focused more on mergers and acquisitions and the listing of companies on stock exchanges, the commercial lawyers concern themselves with the day-to-day activities of companies and their relationships with others. That said, the practice area is diverse, and this is one of the aspects that attracted him to the specialty. "I generally specialise in commercial contracts, intellectual property, IT and data protection," he says. "This means I see a broad spectrum of matters and I know that when I come in each day, there's a good chance I'll be doing not only something I wasn't doing yesterday, but something I might never have done at all. There's also a good mix between the transactional side and the advisory work; that was something that was very important to me."

James also appreciates the close relationships you can forge with clients through commercial work: "After a while working with a client, you really feel as though you understand their business and that you are involved in their internal decision-making process."

Since James finished his training contract almost two years ago, the challenges have kept on coming and he's pleased with the progression of his career thus far. "I'm given far more responsibility now, coming up to two years' qualified, than I was at one year qualified," he explains. "I'm starting to run transactions on my own, albeit with a partner supervising when needed, but I feel a lot more autonomous and that's the same in relation to the advisory work that I'm doing. I'm starting to build up relationships with clients, and while there is a client relationship partner, there are clients that phone me up first in relation to smaller matters rather than phoning up the relevant partner. I'm receiving instructions and deciding what to do, but with support and assistance from someone more senior as and when I need it."

Dealing directly with clients has heightened James's awareness of one of the key issues facing commercial solicitors in the postcrunch economy. As companies find themselves having to make deeper cuts, legal budgets are subject to hawkish scrutiny. It is thus increasingly important for commercial lawyers to prove their value. "Fees are understandably a big issue for clients," he says, "and in-house lawyers will come under growing pressure from within their businesses as to why they can't perform certain tasks themselves for which they normally use outside lawyers. While there will always be a place for commercial departments like Travers Smith's, as there will always be important issues that need to be outsourced, it's about ensuring that the client sees you as necessary and that you provide value for money."

This means it's imperative for commercial lawyers to have an understanding of the commercial realities from the word go. Many corporate firms won't take a second look at applicants who can't demonstrate a working knowledge of the business world. Once on the training contract, James also suggests that it pays to keep your interests broad, even if you already have your heart set on qualifying into a particular area of law: "Having a range of legal skills and knowing the basics of lots of different areas of law will stand you in good stead," he suggests. "So take as much as you can out of all of the other seats that you find yourself in, because in commercial and corporate, you are always going to be interacting with lawyers in different departments. On corporate transactions, it is absolutely key to work with the other departments in the firm, as you can't produce a meaningful due diligence report on a company if the whole firm doesn't pull together and help produce a cohesive piece of work. Often it is the corporate and commercial team that plays the key role in that."