Junior lawyer claims she was sacked after TikTok about life in ‘soul-sucking’ profession went viral

By Legal Cheek on Aug 18 2026 8:56am

Just three weeks into job

A junior lawyer has claimed she was fired just weeks into a new role after posting a viral TikTok criticising the “soul-sucking” realities of working in corporate law.

Natali, a recent law school graduate based in Melbourne, Australia, took to TikTok apparently just three weeks into her job to vent about what the profession’s poor work-life balance.

“There’s no freedom, you barely take a lunch break,” she said. “You’re overworked and underpaid for the amount of study you put in to all these years of becoming a lawyer.”
Natali also took aim at the commercial side of the profession, saying she had gone into law hoping to “make a difference” and “change the world”, only to find that the reality was, in her view, rather different.

@natali_c16

The truth about being a lawyer

♬ original sound – Natali

Once inside the profession, she said, “it becomes less about helping people, and more about making businesses richer”. While Natali admitted she “knew it was coming”, she said she was struggling with “the constant deadlines, the pressure, the working after hours”, adding simply, “I’m just not loving it”.

The clip subsequently went viral, racking up nearly 700,000 views so far and prompting a decidedly mixed response. “Girl you’re right but don’t let your work see this,” read the most-liked comment, in advice that would prove rather prescient. Another viewer was less sympathetic, responding: “Welcome to life. You start at the bottom.”

Four days later, Natali returned to TikTok with an update, claiming she had been “fired” as a result of the original video. “I was fully aware that my TikTok would come back around to [the firm],” she said, describing the subsequent meeting as “a very awkward conversation” and “very confronting”.

Natali claims she “stood [her] ground” after being asked to remove the clip. Both videos remain live, with the follow-up announcing her apparent firing attracting around 670,000 views.

While the young lawyer was careful not to name her former firm in either video, Australian website news.com.au managed to track it down and, without identifying it themselves, got the firm’s side of the story.

A spokesperson said the firm was “very proud” of its workplace culture and disputed the picture painted in the viral post.

“All of our staff are employed on a 9-5 basis with a fully paid one hour lunch break,” they continued. “Some staff choose to work more hours than that, or take lesser lunch breaks. That is of their choosing and is not an obligation.”

They added that “we actively discourage staff from working beyond 5pm because we do not believe that it is healthy or necessary. We do not allow new lawyers to take their laptops home.”

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