Commercial
Commercial lawyers help businesses trade and work on a wide range of commercial agreements dealing with the manufacture, sale, supply and distribution of goods and services, as well as identifying and establishing the best routes to market, which could be via an agency, distribution or franchise model. Recently, there has been increased focus on ecommerce, online sales and software agreements. The work involves advising clients on the best trade arrangements, drafting, negotiating and signing off contracts, assisting with the day-to-day running of commercial business and advising on new products. Commercial law is often a key component in other projects and touches many areas of law, making it a highly varied legal arena At school Charlotte Wright discovered her love for advocacy and debating, so much so that she began to picture a career as a barrister. However, she tells us that “as a commercial lawyer, you are a draftsman”, so it was Charlotte’s love for English which has proved to be her greatest career ally. Charlotte studied law at Durham University and graduated in 2010. Once out of university she worked for four months at a family law firm in Wakefield, but it was not right for her. It was during her time as a paralegal in the commercial team’s head office at Asda House in Leeds that Charlotte had her first taste of commercial law and found the fit that suited her best. During that time, Charlotte was involved in a lot of exciting work; implementing training, dealing with competition and information requests and assisting with contract management for big suppliers. Variety is the spice of life Her Walker Morris training contract enabled Charlotte to experience numerous areas of law. She touched on property development,
corporate, employment, banking and litigation. The fast-paced world of litigation was exhilarating, but Charlotte explains that while the “adrenaline rush” was fun, the lifestyle “wasn’t for me”. A secondment back to Asda and a further secondment to Hargreaves brought the “variety and range” of an in-house workload, making the decision of where to qualify much easier: “Even though I hadn’t sat in the commercial department at Walker Morris at that time, I knew from my experience during my secondments that it was what I wanted to do.” It is the variety that Charlotte loves the most. The “big deals come three or four times a year – the time you put in, the build-up; that’s a huge accomplishment”. In between the big deals there is the day-to-day trading advice, contracts and terms of sale and building relationships: “It’s nice sometimes to get a piece of work and to sit down and lock yourself away, or work from home and get your head down and get quite creative to make the document the best it can be.” You work for your clients Charlotte’s days involve advising on, drafting and negotiating a wide spectrum of commercial agreements. She interacts with her clients through conference calls and meetings, as well as visits to other cities. International clients are not always available to meet face to face, but video-calling and screen sharing are just a click away. Charlotte explains that Walker Morris is supportive of business development and encourages building client relationships: “You don’t always think about it, but law is all people based, you work for your clients, so building those relationships is important”. She likes organising activities and explains that there is ample opportunity for social events. “If you have a good idea, you have the freedom to roll with it – if you are happy
For more firms that work in this practice area, please use the “Training contract regional indexes” starting on p205.
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