Beverley Bentley is a partner at Halliwells, the Liverpool law firm she joined in May, 2006. She lives in West Kirby with her husband, Richard, and their four-year-old daughter, Isabelle

6am: Alarm goes off. First judgment call of the day – to hit “snooze” or not? Decision largely rests on whether there’s a need to blow-dry or just straighten. Overnight emails are checked, breakfast is made for the family and the cats are fed.

7am: The rest of the Bentley clan get up, showered and dressed. The TV goes on – the first (and often most tricky) negotiation of the day is whether we watch the news or Peppa Pig.

8am: I leave, drop my daughter at nursery and head into Liverpool.

9am: I’m at my desk and thankfully someone has left me a mug of coffee! The first job of the day is reviewing a suite of Irish law documents and issuing a legal opinion for a client in Dublin.

I love the exposure to other jurisdictions and learning about the vagaries of foreign law (not to mention my client’s soft lilting accent!)

10.30am: Starbucks for a latte and a catch-up with a banker. We discuss the Liverpool market generally and deal activity levels across the North West. There is talk of a potential meaty deal which the bank is looking at and there’ll hopefully be a sizeable role for Halliwells. We move on to local gossip – I love the fact that the Liverpool marketplace is so village-like.

1pm: Lunch is usually soup and fruit at my desk (a combination of being too lazy/tight/busy to buy anything) and today is no different. I find 10 minutes to check out the all important weekend weather forecast (focusing on wind predictions – my husband kite-surfs) and then it’s back to the paperwork.

1.30pm: All-parties conference call on a substantial refinancing set to complete on Friday. A tricky issue revealed by the financial due diligence necessitates substantial amendments to the loan document and additional security documents being drafted and negotiated (at least I know how my evening is going to pan out now) and my trainee takes the news that she’s going to be in late pretty well.

3pm: Internal meeting with the rest of the banking team to discuss targeting and business development and to look at internal cross-selling opportunities. Someone makes a much-needed mid-afternoon brew.

4pm: Head out for a meeting with the FD of Bibby Financial Services to advise and negotiate funding documents in relation to a facility to their Indian subsidiary.

We move on to discuss a number of other deals which we’re doing together. I stop to chat to the company secretary – the most organised woman I’ve ever met and a God-send when it comes to satisfying loan pre-conditions!

6pm: Back to the office. I run into clients from Co-op and from Lloyds Banking Group, on Old Hall Street, and from Santander in the lobby of our building, The Plaza – this is such a great location to work in.

6.30pm: Check messages, return calls and spend 15 minutes organising my files.

7pm: No events on tonight so I head home and arrive just in time for cuddles and a story with my four-year- old daughter. Tonight it’s a chapter from Horrid Henry (my favourite!)

8pm: Make dinner and open wine. I have the first proper chance to chat to my husband all day. There’s a match on (Liverpool) so Richard decamps to the lounge for much shouting at the TV and I open the lap-top, pour more wine, and get a head start on tomorrow’s work.

11.15: Pretty tired now but there’s still time to go online and order my daughter some ridiculously impractical and over-priced sequinned shoes which she’s been begging for and I’ve been trying to resist buying. I’m “treated” to a detailed review of the match before bed, wonder how I’m going to find time to trot into town to collect the shoes I’ve just ordered, and puzzle over some tricky financial covenants – all in all, it’s been a good day!