Junior Lawyer Crushed After She Was Fired From Law Firm for TikTok Post: ‘I Spoke Up For So Many People’
She shared what young lawyers like her experience.
A woman gave the public a glimpse of the reality those in the legal industry face, but her action seemingly had unintended consequences for her career. Natali Curukovski, a junior lawyer based in Australia, shared in a video on her TikTok account that she had allegedly been fired from a law firm after a video of her describing the toxic work culture that young lawyers like her experience had gone viral.
According to Curukovski, she was only in her third week as a practicing lawyer in Melbourne, Australia, when she concluded that she was “really just not loving it” despite having expected such an outcome. To Curukovski, it felt like she was back to being a law student.
“The constant deadlines, the pressure, the working after hours, doing all these CPD events, reading extra books,” Curukovski said. “It’s like I did seven years of all of this to just go back and do the same thing.”
Curukovski says junior lawyers barely have a life
Curukovski claimed that life as a junior lawyer had “no freedom” and that there was barely a life out of it. She alleges that she had no time for lunch breaks, and that she couldn’t raise her puppy with her as she was working at the office five days a week.
“Being a lawyer isn’t really supportive of a lifestyle. You don’t really have a lifestyle. It really is a soul-sucking job, and I would think again if you want to go to law school,” Curukovski warned her viewers. The young lawyer also claimed that law firms focus more on generating profit, and “if you don’t produce profits, you’re not a value to the team.”
“So it becomes less about helping people and more about making businesses richer, and restricting your own time and freedom for a paycheck, “ Curukovski said. “[It’s] really concerning and sucking my soul out.”
Curukovski gets fired for viral video
Less than a week after Curukovski’s initial video went viral on TikTok, the lawyer claimed that her law firm had officially sent her a letter of termination that was “effective immediately.” Curukovski stressed that her previous video wasn’t made as a way to tarnish the law firm’s reputation, and stated that she didn’t share the firm’s name, its client files, or give information that could identify the firm.
Curukovski said she was “willing to walk away” from her role and understood the consequences career-wise when her video began generating engagement. A similar incident occurred when an employee shared a video online that resulted in him getting fired, showing that this isn’t the first time social media has caused the end of an employment.
While Curukovski’s termination invited an “awkward” and “confronting” conversation with the law firm, which had requested that she remove the video, Curukovski said she was grateful for the people who have reached out and shown their support: “Further solidifying that I spoke up for so many people in our industry.” Despite being fired and her future being “unknown,” Curukovski said she felt “excited” and “free” already, and claimed the first thing she will do is “pick up my dog and spend time with her.”
Law firm sets the record straight
Per News.com.au, Curukovski’s former employer issued a statement clarifying their workplace culture. “All of our staff are employed on a 9-5 basis with a fully paid one hour lunch break. Some staff choose to work more hours than that, or take lesser lunch breaks. That is of their choosing and is not an obligation,” the firm said.
The firm claimed that they actively discourage their staff from working beyond their hours, bringing home their work laptops, or checking emails, as they “do not believe that it is healthy or necessary.” The firm added that they don’t set billable targets for junior lawyers with less than two years of experience in their first three to six months with the firm. “We are very proud of our workplace culture and mentoring program with regards to all lawyers, and specifically junior lawyers,” the firm said.
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