In a busy corporate law firm, Cooper-Fozard in the City of London, Stephen Bradley and his team work fast and furiously to put together mergers, takeovers and buyouts for a range of clients. But it's never as clear and clinical as that. When colleagues work hard they often play hard too; and working closely sometimes brings people together after hours. Soon you develop a taste for a good deal, and you can sense a suspicious one at forty paces. And above all, though you don't have to like the people you work with, you learn that you do need to trust them.

2003-02-13