An early blow to DLA Piper’s 2027 trainee retantion rate.
A budding lawfluencer who broadcast her qualms about the corporate world has quit her training contract two weeks in.
Inês Pinheiro received plaudits (and some raised eyebrows) for her candid updates as she got ready to begin her training contract at DLA Piper.
“I am not looking forward to it”, she said on LinkedIn, but “someone needs to bring light to the darkest places”.
It won’t be Pinheiro. “First week of my TC in my seat in core finance and I’m trapped at home because burnout has made a comeback“, she told her five thousand-odd followers.
A few days later the trainee, who revealed that she had failed Part 2 of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam “by 0.03%”, announced that she had quit.
“I have taken the important decision to resign from my position as a trainee solicitor at DLA Piper”, she wrote.
The Venezuelan 29-year-old secured her TC after a vacation scheme and was complimentary of her (brief) DLA Piper experience. “I’m forever grateful for the opportunity and the nice memories”, she said.
“Sadly, Big Law is not a safe environment for recovering overachievers to heal from burnout”, wrote Pinheiro, acknowledging that “what initially drew me to corporate law was greed (fuelled by insecurity, fear and necessity)”.
The ex-trainee addressed assumptions that she was “either ungrateful or a snowflake”, asking why “It’s acceptable to burn out after 10 years in the profession, being in partnership and having children” but not “at the applicant/trainee level”?
“We know how competitive the application process is. We know how important achievements and extracurriculars are to secure a TC. And as the profession becomes more diverse, we’re opening the doors to people from unconventional backgrounds, many of whom are dealing with hardship”, she said.
Pinheiro told ROF she would like to “continue to build a community online”, but was also focused on getting back into the arts.
Sounding like a Magic Circle partner heading into retirement, only without having to spend the intervening 25 years chewing a biro in the office, she said, “I have a ukulele at home and I’ve been meaning to learn how to play it for years. I’m exploring the possibility of writing a children’s book based on my dog, and making illustrations for birthday cards and things like that. Maybe I’ll open an Etsy shop. I am not sure yet!”
In a message for scornful commenters on ROF, she posted on LinkedIn, “To my club of fans on roll on Friday saying silly things about me:
1. We need to take you salsa dancing… It’s concerning that you are spending the little free time you have running a blog to talk about me. 👀
But more importantly,
2. I understand that you have worked incredibly hard to make this profession something honourable.
3. I understand that my decisions may look like an attack on your personal and professional choices.
But they are not.”