Shipping is one of the most specialised areas of law, so its practitioners are always in demand. It falls into two areas: ‘dry' shipping includes contractual issues, bill of lading and charterparty disputes, and disputes about damage to cargo; whereas ‘wet' shipping usually involves casualties (eg, where a ship has sunk or collided with another vessel). The work can be contentious or non-contentious. Even when the world economy is slow, shipping litigation remains buoyant and generally fares well because of its counter-cyclical nature. Non-contentious work, on the other hand, tends to follow the economic trends.

Jo Ward is a solicitor in the marine, energy and trade (MET) team at City firm Barlow Lyde & Gilbert LLP (BLG). Her pursuit of a career in law began after a short spell of legal work experience while she was at secondary school. She subsequently opted to study law at the University of Bristol, and by the end of her second year at university she knew that she wanted to be a lawyer. She therefore set about securing a place on some vacation schemes over the summer; but before firing off any applications, she decided to carry out her own research by going along to the Bristol law fair to pick up brochures and speak to representatives from the numerous firms present on the day. Nevertheless, as Jo remembers, "It is very difficult to distinguish between firms at that stage and I was not sure exactly what size of firm I wanted to work in. I therefore decided to apply to a wide range of firms."

Jo secured a place on a summer vacation scheme at BLG and thoroughly enjoyed her two weeks at the firm. At the end of the scheme, BLG offers a training contract interview to all participating students. Jo performed well at her interview and was subsequently made an offer. "I got the offer early on into my third year of university and it was brilliant to have a training contract lined up before the LPC."

Jo's first seat upon commencing her training contract at BLG was in the professional liability and commercial litigation team, where she assisted in defending a number of negligence claims against solicitors, as well as dealing with claims under various types of commercial contract. She then did her second seat in the casualty and commercial risk team, where she worked on malicious prosecution claims against the police and claims against local authorities. Her third seat was in the MET team. "When I was a trainee, the work I did was mainly on pure shipping cases such as charterparty and cargo disputes. I worked on several arbitration and court hearings; as a trainee, you are heavily involved in the practical preparation work for those hearings. I also got involved in liaising with various clients, experts and counsel, which was very good experience - but a little bit scary at that stage! Another area I worked on was road transport losses for our major road transport client, which again involved a number of court hearings and a trial." Her fourth and final seat was in corporate finance, where she worked on a management buy-out, as well as a tax case involving an appeal to the tribunal on an issue of insurance premium tax. Jo subsequently qualified into MET upon qualification in September 2004.

Jo has since gained significant experience during her time in MET. She is currently acting for the hull insurers on a marine insurance claim: "Negligent repairs had been carried out to part of the vessel's engine and we are therefore bringing the claim against the repairers on behalf of the insurers, which have paid the owners under their insurance policy." The nature of shipping work means that it is international in scope: "Almost every case will have a multi-jurisdictional element to it. This means that we often have to instruct foreign lawyers to advise us on different laws and there are also many international marine conventions to consider." Add to that the fact that Jo is normally working on up to 20 cases at any one time and it is easy to see just how busy she is.

Jo confirms that there is no such thing as a typical day, but to give us a flavour, she describes one recent day: "I began with a client meeting to discuss the various losses which will make up the value of our claim. I then had a lunch meeting with a partner and a different client on a case which concerns losses arising as a result of Hurricane Katrina. It is potentially a $1 billion claim and is a good example of the multi-jurisdictional aspect of our work, as New York law applies to the contract but it is to be determined by an English arbitration tribunal. Following that, we went to a conference with our barrister on that case to discuss our strategy generally. It was quite a full day - rounded off with the firm summer party at the end of it!"

She's also working on a piracy case at the moment. "A vessel has been hijacked with the crew and valuable cargo on board. We are advising insurers on coverage of the ransom payment under the insurance policy. It is very interesting and involves frequent discussions between cargo owners, the vessel owners, the crew managers and all of their respective insurers. It is quite exciting to be involved in, but obviously you have to remember that the crew are still being held on board the ship." Jo's career highlight, however, has to be taking a case all the way to the House of Lords last year - it had been ongoing for so long, she had even worked on it as a trainee. "We went all the way through from first instance decision up to the Court of Appeal and then the House of Lords. It was an incredible experience - it gives you a real reminder of the history and background to the law you're practising when you're sitting there in front of some of the top legal brains in the country."

Jo is very specific about the skills you need to become a top shipping lawyer. "Firstly, you need the ability to absorb and understand a lot of technical information from the various experts involved in a matter - for example, marine engineers or master mariners - as well as the legal issues involved. You also need to be well organised, as the crossjurisdictional elements of our cases mean that you will probably be dealing with different procedural requirements, time bars and foreign lawyers (depending on what law is applicable to the dispute). And finally, you need solid legal knowledge, especially in this area, because you can be looking at everything from contract law to insurance law to international maritime conventions."

Jo advises that when it comes to training contract applications, be as strategic as possible. "Do not apply to a random mix of firms. Be focused about the type of firm you want to work in and, if possible, the type of work you want to do - whether it be contentious or non-contentious. Another tip, if you have not done a vacation scheme at the firm you are really interested in, is not to be afraid to phone graduate recruitment and ask if you can pop in to have a coffee with a trainee or be shown around the firm. Without doing this it really is a bit of a leap in the dark, so it is good to get some knowledge from someone who works there before you apply."