Legal Cheek Careers sits down with Travers Smith associate Greta Tozer to discuss her journey from English literature into law, the linguistic puzzles of tax and leveraging her non-law background
“Honestly, if you’d told me five years ago that I was going to be a tax lawyer, I wouldn’t have believed you,” laughs Greta Tozer, a tax associate at Travers Smith. Yet today she finds herself happily embedded in Travers Smith’s tax team, working in a practice area she once assumed may not suit her skillset. As it turns out, tax law is “very much about language and analysis”, she explains. “It is full of intellectual puzzles and real-world impact”, a combination that proved to be the “perfect fit”.
Tozer only started to seriously consider law in her final year of her English degree at Oxford University, when firms began hosting campus events. “I went to one of the Travers Smith meet-and-greets,” she recalls. The presentation left a strong impression and encouraged her to apply for the firm’s vacation scheme. She secured a place on the two-week scheme in summer 2019, which gave her a genuine insight into both the work and the culture. By the end of the placement, she had been offered a training contract. After completing law school, she began her training contract and qualified into Travers Smith’s tax department last year.
When she started her training contract, tax was not on her radar at all. With a background in English and a love of language and argument, she initially gravitated towards litigation. “I loved language, reading and constructing arguments, so litigation, from the outside at least, really appealed to me,” she says.
That view shifted during her seat rotations. “Before doing my tax seat, I hadn’t ever really considered being a tax lawyer,” she admits, “I assumed it would be more suited to those with a stronger foundation in maths” However, she quickly realised that tax law drew on the same skills she had enjoyed as an English student, including parsing complex language, researching in depth and crafting interpretations. Tax, she explains, is highly linguistic. “It’s all about language really, and it’s a bit like a puzzle, which I really enjoy.” And as regards her assumption on numbers, she adds that “you need some basic numerical skill, but we are not accountants, and so our job is ultimately to understand the statute (of which there is lots) and apply that to the facts”. By the end of the seat, tax had won her over. She chose to qualify into the practice, finding it offered the intellectual stimulation she wanted, alongside a fast-paced environment, a continuously evolving area of law, and the ability to work on a variety of different matters and disciplines at once.
What work can you expect to do as a tax lawyer?
Now qualified, Tozer enjoys the breadth and variety of work the tax team offers. “It has elements of everything I was enjoying during my training contract,” she says. Tozer sits in the Asset Management sub-team, and much of her practice is advisory, often helping clients set up new investment funds. Her clients, largely private equity houses and venture capital firms, rely on the team to structure funds in a tax-efficient way, and help them manage their house affairs on an ongoing basis. Tozer’s work can also involve assisting the deal team on transactions, although much of this is handled by the dedicated Tax Transactions sub-team. As a whole, the Tax team also covers contentious matters, such as responding to HMRC enquiries, which often involves discussing complex matters with King’s Counsel barristers. This gives her, she says, “a taste of basically everything, and offers the best of all worlds”.
“You get to look at the whole picture,” she explains. That means considering the people involved, the jurisdictions, the investors and the assets, identifying the tax issues, researching the law and proposing solutions. The advice is then often distilled into a concise written note for the client. “I really love that element,” she says, describing the process of “deep research followed by clear, structured writing”.
Why should trainees consider a tax seat?
So, what can trainees expect from a tax seat? In some departments, Tozer notes, there is a clear divide between trainee tasks and associate-level work. Tax, however, is different. “I think with tax you have to have a go at doing everything first, and then you talk it through with the partner or associate,” she explains.
As a trainee, that meant taking on complex work “You’re doing really great work from the very beginning of your career,” she says. In the Asset Management sub-team, one day might involve drafting and negotiating a partnership agreement which governs the fund, or researching a complex point of law for a client memo. The next could mean sitting down with new draft legislation proposed by the Government or a judgment handed down from the courts and considering how this may impact your clients. “It’s a really hands-on practice area,” she adds, one that allows juniors to engage with the analysis early rather than watching from the sidelines.
What is Tozer’s advice for non-law student applicants?
As an English grad, Tozer is keen to reassure non-law students that they are not at a disadvantage. She remembers worrying that she would lack the legal knowledge of law graduates, but quickly learned that firms value diverse academic backgrounds. “They’re not expecting you to walk through the door on day one knowing everything there is to know about law,” she says.
Instead, she encourages students to focus on what they can bring. “Think about what it is you really love about your degree,” she advises. “Law is a broad church”, she says, whether your strengths lie in deep research, writing, negotiating, project management, or public speaking. “There’s so much room in law for different skill sets, which I think is amazing.” The key is to find the area where those strengths can really shine.
Tozer’s tips for a successful vacation scheme
Finally, having secured her training contract through a vacation scheme, Tozer shares her advice on making the most of one. During her own scheme, she admits she was still herself figuring out whether law was the path she wanted to take. “I saw it as them testing me, but also me testing whether this was what I wanted to do, and where I wanted to do it,” she says. That mindset helped take the pressure off.
“The more authentic you can be in those environments, the better,” she says. She urges students not to feel they need to pretend they know everything. “The whole point of being a lawyer is that you’re asking questions all the time, and it’s exactly the same as a vac scheme student.”
Her final advice is simple but effective. “Try to relax into it and enjoy it as much as you can. I know that sounds impossible,” she laughs. “But if you can almost ignore the fact it’s a vac scheme and just try to enjoy the work and talk to the people around you, it will feel easier. And definitely ask questions. Lots of questions.”
Greta Tozer will be speaking at ‘Tax and private capital: How tax considerations shape international transactions — with Travers Smith’, a virtual student event taking place on Wednesday 7 January. APPLY NOW!
@traverssmithearlycareers Trainee, Rachel, here with her top tip on acing our application process this Autumn season 🍂 Head over to our website to apply for our Direct Training Contract, Summer Vacation Schemes or Apprenticeships today >>> https://traverssmithhires.app.candidats.io/roles #applications #lawfirm #traverssmith #fyp #student ♬ original sound – skingasm
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