Towards the closing months of the last millennium, a cocky young reporter walked into a chaotic office in Farringdon to join a new title called Legal Week.

The exact nature of its work eluded me – other than that it involved the legal profession – but I had a couple of years' business reporting experience and a compulsive streak which got me up to speed fairly quickly with this strange new community.

It was a competitive and lively world to cover. Competing against the military-tight organisation of the Sean Brierley-era Lawyer was invigorating and often brutal. I got to see much of the good of the industry and plenty of its seamier side.

I worked with, and against, many good journalists. Soon I was running Legal Week's news team, and my initial attempts at management could be described charitably as 'driven', but everyone mellows in the end.

Senior lawyers often wonder why the legal media has the influence that it does. Much of the reason is that it's generally lively and good.

More than that, however imperfectly, it reflects and became part of a community that is a fundamental element of the legal industry – mangling JB Priestley's description of the role of a vibrant community-based regional media, it is "scribbled in the midst" of City law.

Don't get me wrong, the legal media has its flaws – historically, at least, including immaturity, myopia and a lack of self-criticism. Later when I became editor of Legal Week, attempting to address those weaknesses was a major aim, though it's not for me to say if I had any success.

As I now leave Legal Week after more than 13 years, it feels appropriate to think on how the profession has changed. In the fag end of 1999, there were a lot more rough edges. More characters and colour. You could easily tell a City lawyer from a counterpart at a leading national or regional firm – even if their earnings and clients were indistinguishable.

As the profession was embarking on huge international expansion, partners were much focused on hilarious cultural differences between British, French and German counsel. No, really!

The profession is now more cosmopolitan and global; in many respects more polished, less boozy and more female (not at partner level, obviously). It's also probably more ethical – there was a greater tolerance back then for sharp practice if you thought you could get away with it. Less positively, it's even more privileged.

Over the years, accidentally, I became fond of the profession, finding much to admire. The thing about lawyers, for all the maddening conservatism and insecurity, is that they try really hard and set high standards. That's rare in British life and has helped to make the profession something to be proud of.

I'm going on to a new challenge and leaving behind a strong team at Legal Week. It's been a blast.