Natali Curukovski criticised the “constant deadlines” and overtime
Law graduate Natali Curukovski revealed that she has been terminated for her viral TikTok video slamming law firm culture, reported News.com.au.
Curukovski had posted the video, which logged almost 280,000 views, three weeks into practice. She criticised the deadlines and overtime she was pulling.
“It’s my third week practicing as a lawyer in Melbourne and I knew this was coming, and I knew I’d feel this way, but I’m really just not loving it. The constant deadlines, the pressure, the working after hours, doing all these CPD (continuing professional development) events, reading extra books - it’s like I did seven years of all of this to just go back and do the same thing”, she said in the TikTok, a snippet of which was published by News.com.au.
Curukovski claimed that she was barely able to take time for lunch and that there was “no freedom”. She was required to be on site five days a week, which left her unable to take care of her pet dog.
“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”, she said in a snippet of the video published by News.com.au.
Curukovski also alleged that her work focused on “making profits for that business”, with lawyers’ value hinging on their ability to generate profits.
“So it becomes less about helping people and more about making businesses richer and restricting your own time and freedom for a paycheck. Really concerning and sucking my soul out”, she said in a snippet of the video published by News.com.au.
Curukovski received mixed reactions to the video, with comments warning her to not “let your employer see this”, per News.com.au. Others remarked that her experience was simply part of being a working adult.
A week after the TikTok went live, she revealed in another video that she had had what she described as an “awkward” and “confronting” discussion with her employer. She refused to delete the first TikTok at her employer’s request and thereafter received a termination letter that took effect immediately.
Curukovski claimed that she had not damaged her employer’s reputation because she left out names and client files – the first TikTok was “merely talking about the experience of junior lawyers”, she said in a snippet of the second video published by News.com.au. She said that she had spoken up for many in the profession.
She added that the termination left her feeling free.
“I was willing to walk away from that role the second I started getting more engagement here and I was fully aware that my TikTok could come back around to them, and it well and truly did come back around them”, Curukovski said in a snippet of the second video published by News.com.au.
According to LinkedIn, Curukovski received her JD from the University of Melbourne in December 2025 and was admitted to the profession in Melbourne last month.
The law firm that employed Curukovski pushed back against her comments, although it would not comment on her situation specifically.
“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 law firm said in a statement published by News.com.au. “In fact, we actively discourage staff from working beyond 5pm because we do not believe that it is healthy or necessary”.
The firm said it discouraged new lawyers from bringing their laptops home and prohibited them from checking emails on their phones in order to foster work-life balance. Moreover, the firm did not set billable targets for junior lawyers with under two years of experience in their first three to six months of work.
“We are very proud of our workplace culture and mentoring program with regards to all lawyers, and specifically junior lawyers”, the firm said in a statement published by News.com.au.
