I studied psychology at Manchester University but realised in the second year that it wasn’t really for me. However, I liked working with people and chose the law because of the empathy side of things – getting to know someone’s point of view and helping them to achieve things. The GDL was an amazing course and very intensive. In many ways I think it made me better equipped for my career than If I’d taken a traditional route.

I joined the Manchester office as a trainee in 1999. I qualified into the real estate team in 2001 and have worked in the department since then.

Obviously the firm has grown a lot in that time and although this has meant a lot of changes, one thing that hasn’t changed is the type of people who work here. They are what attracted me to the firm in the first place as they are friendly, down-to-earth and supportive...

I wanted to gain experience of quality work with large, corporate clients whilst remaining in the north-west. As one of Manchester's premier full-service, commercial law firms, DLA Piper was one of very few firms which presented me with the opportunity to do this.

Has the work been interesting so far? The range of work I experienced whilst a trainee in the corporate, banking, litigation and restructuring departments was hugely varied and almost always...

I joined the Manchester office as a trainee in 1998 when it was still called Dibb Lupton Alsop. The main thing that attracted me to the firm was the culture. I don’t think it has changed very much over the years – this has always been a very good and personable environment in which to work.

Since qualification I’ve worked in the corporate department, specialising in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance...