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Even YouTube praised Eve when she qualified.


One of UK law's most-followed influencers has left the profession.

Eve Cornwell accumulated over 130,000 Instagram followers and 374,000 YouTube subscribers documenting her style journey and the ups and downs of her life as a law student and Linklaters trainee.

Having qualified into the Links corporate team in September 2021, Cornwell revealed this week that she had decided to "pivot out of legal practice" to become a Product Manager at a tech start-up within Linklaters called CreateiQ, which aims to "free legal teams from paperwork for good".

Cornwell said in a LinkedIn post announcing her decision that "the idea of walking away from a career that had become merged with my sense of purpose, self-identity and achievement was terrifying", but that she would rather "build" than advise, and had actually begun applying for roles in the tech sector last year.

"Entering 2022 in product management challenges me to design, build and most importantly - disrupt", said Cornwell.

Her move will come as a relief to some colleagues at Linklaters, one of whom told RollOnFriday, "there isn't a single person I know who works here who doesn't visibly cringe upon seeing her videos".

Despite the naysayers, Cornwell's brand appealed to thousands of people unfazed by the self-promoting nature of the 'Gram. Her fans credited her with demystifying City law, and some said she had inspired them to attempt to enter the profession.

Now that she is leaving law, other followers have thanked Cornwell for destigmatising getting out. "So glad you are speaking about this", said Renée Dzandzo-Caesar. "I completed my LLB at University of law and I went straight into the working world as a consultant. My heart constantly feels torn because I studied so hard in my degree so that I could become a barrister and now I don’t even think I want to be a barrister anymore".

In a Financial Times profile of 'lawfluencers' in November, Cornwell described how she would like to see senior partners creating online content, too, in order to help younger audiences find "upstream mentorship circles". Hopefully Cornwell's recommendation won't be disregarded just because she's moving on. Once your management team appears on TikTok, please do forward the results.

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Comments

Anonymous 07 January 22 09:31

It feels like an unhealthy attachment those youtube commenters have, following her for years and crying when she qualifies. Like those nutters who turn up at royal weddings weeping with joy. Maybe they're just kids, and they'll grow out of it and rock the world of law.

Anon 07 January 22 10:03

@anon 9:31 they aren’t literally crying it’s something young people say these days, they deliberately misuse the word literally.

My trainee cohort called this. Incredible that there is such group think with those followers of hers, who are now doing mental acrobatics to justify their own continuance on the path despite the obvious (Eve left law). Working in law firm does not equal being a practicing lawyer, though, fair play to her much better hours. 

TopDaawg 07 January 22 10:13

haha her instagram profile is hilariously cringe. How on earth did she get in LinkLaters!? Clearly someone in HR was feeling #woke.

 

I previously followed someone on instagram called thefitlondoner who is similar. As their supervisor, I would refuse to give them work knowing they would be talking about it on instagram stories 5 min later.

Anonymous 07 January 22 10:18

There's another girl at a boutique construction and engineering firm who "influences" that involves an Instagram containing lots of scantily clad photos of herself in bikinis and tight gym apparel. 

She is very nice to look at but the revealing nature is something her clients may be less keen on (from a work perspective) as it seems she spends more time on social media than fee earning. 

Why Eve why 07 January 22 10:24

Clearly she has fans and clearly I'm not the target market, so whatevs. But - all those videos promoting working in corporate law, encouraging her followers to enter the profession and generally bigging up BigLaw - and it turns out she she disliked it all along? 

I mean it's not the surprise of the century (who genuinely gets that much passionate enjoyment from being a trainee) but relentlessly promoting something that you actually hate is a bit grim isn't it?

Of course we don't *know* that she hated it, but leaving the profession as soon as humanly possible is a pretty strong tell. 

Whatever will freshers do now? 07 January 22 10:41

She’s left four months into qualification.

Makes you wonder whether it’s because her influencer background meant she just marketed her way into the role and wasn’t actually cut for it / interested

OR

her influencer background mean she was not being taken seriously by her colleagues

Anonymous 07 January 22 11:08

@10:41 - we have never seen her written work or appraisal feedbacks, and her mask never slips on how she is really feeling about work as she toes the company line. We will probably not find out the real reason. 

Pencilcase 07 January 22 11:11

It would be interesting to know what factors came into play when her TC was being considered. Feels like being an influencer is the new ‘do you know who my daddy is’

Anonymous 07 January 22 11:29

Seen her insta. Modelling a 'Be Gay Do Crime' T shirt was a hint that her heart no longer fully belonged to law.

Good luck to her, leaving seems like a sound choice. Many leave it too long and then never jump.

 

Mountain 07 January 22 12:10

> an Instagram containing lots of scantily clad photos of herself in bikinis and tight gym apparel. 

Link, please. So we can assess for ourselves.

Cos, jumbo plain sausage, chips and beans please 07 January 22 12:12

@ 11:08 - I’m not holding my breath on finding out. Was more suggesting legal influencers may not be as cut out for law as they proclaim, particularly after leaving within 4 months of qualifying…

I mean logically, their talents lie with marketing if they’ve built up such a fan base and converted so many people to follow their career choice. 
 

 

 

I wonder 07 January 22 12:16

I wonder much of the decision to give her a TC was a PR move in the first place. 

Think about it, she has 347k subscribers and a high social media following, plus she made a big announcement of her TC firm which was built up for weeks. 
 

It’s not crazy to think Linklaters recruited her with the main purpose of building PR amongst her hundreds of thousands of minions. 

Sprout 07 January 22 12:38

There is an interesting discussion to be had about these young legal influencers, and whether their idealised expectations of the job line up with the cold hard reality of legal practice.

Marketing oneself as being a 'future trainee at x firm' is something of a social media gimmick now that I think aspiring lawyers would do well to take with a heavy dollop of salt. Future trainees are too green to give a proper account of legal life, yet continue to build their profile and status around it.

I also question whether these influencers are able to truly flourish in biglaw, given their entrepreneurial ambitions. The pyramid structure of many corporate firms does not exactly facilitate individual innovation. You are in effect a handsomely paid cog in the machine. The conservative instincts of firms do not tend to tolerate market disruption from employees. Perhaps partners are a different story.

Better to leave sooner than later I'd say. I wish Ms Cornwell the best of luck!

Paris Syndrome 07 January 22 12:39

You have to concede that the Links HR folks are quite smart.  They have, effectively, enjoyed free and extensive - plus solely positive - PR about the firm for over a couple of years.  By retaining her, this will continue. 

If anything, curious to know how the salary compares.  As a "manager", she will probably be making somewhere between a trainee and an NQ with drastically reduced hours.  My guess: £70-75k with strict 40 hours a week Mon-Fri. 

"Lol" at the earlier YT comments predicting her swift ascension to corporate partner... 

Anonymous 07 January 22 13:01

@ I wonder. That does sound a bit crazy... Not sure Links needs PR among those with an interest in joining the profession? Happy to be corrected, but I thought that (as ever) they were over burdened with (potentially) competent applicants.

Indeed 07 January 22 13:10

@sprout

 

There are a significant amount of future trainees who offer “training contract / corporate law workshops” and similar services at a price, and some of them have thousands of customers. A bit of delving on LinkedIn should locate them. 
 

The desperation of law students, as well as the idolisation of biglaw due to social media/influencers, has created a interesting niche but it also potentially misleads many students in the reality of city law.   

Oh for crying out loud 07 January 22 13:18

She's just another privileged white English girl who is acting like an overgrown Bristol fresher: joking about being bi/gay, using AAVE and black performers in her videos because it's 'cool', being on board with BLM, using neologisms like 'spilling the tea', you get the idea.

My favourite part is that she joined the 93% Club to moan about state schools and underrepresentation - she even specifies that she attended a state comprehrensive on her Linkedin. Her, a pinnacle of oppression!

Anon 07 January 22 13:29

93% club seems to be for the lower middle class English females feigning poverty under the guise of going to a state school, which turns out to be a decent one, hence they consequently secure a place at a leading university, benefiting from education privilege 

 

Fake social mobility

Eve C PR Agency 07 January 22 13:33

Why do we need to know that an NQ has decided to make a career change?

The Lawyer, LegalCheek and ROF carrying out this non-story.

This is what you call the epitome white female privilege - why does  she warrant this marketing?

None of her content is about helping aspiring lawyers or providing them with any guidance/tips - it’s about “me, me and me”

Working class 07 January 22 13:36

She says she’s a working class northerner and cited her accent as an issue.

She’s the least sounding working class person I’ve heard. She very much sounds middle class perhaps she acquired her accent at UoB mingling with the posh middle class english girls

Garter 07 January 22 14:06

The story’s been run because although influencers mean nothing to you, they are relevant to a chunk of the youth and to firms. She is not just an NQ, she is a one person media platform. The fact she promoted big law then ditched it so fast is interesting. I agree not every thing she does needs to be recognised by media outlets (I think legal cheek runs several credulous stories about what legal influencers eat for breakfast every week), but her quitting law is interesting given her history. Perhaps an element of eyebrow raising, reading between the lines? 

Anonymous 07 January 22 14:10

Lawyers queuing up to criticise this individual for daring to choose another career away from law is probably the reason why she and others are choosing to leave the law. 

Speculation ! 07 January 22 14:19

@ anon 13:01

 

its plausible. Never underestimate the value of 300 k worshipers who blindly follow their idol.
 

I mean look at those comments in that article photo. It wouldn’t be surprised if many of her followers immediately gave Linklaters a massive PR boost accross social media once she announced she got a TC there.
 

it’s also plausible to imagine that even competent applicants subconsciously favour Linklaters over a competitor simply because an influencer they like works there. If the options are incredibly similar (pay, hours, practice areas), that could be quite a plus for one of those worshippers 

Christopher 07 January 22 14:47

Does anyone who works in a law firm think positively of these "influencers"? Irrespective of gender, seniority, university...

 

I'm seeing a firm divide of opinion between those who haven't gotten a TC or who are future trainees (who love them) and those who work as trainees or associates (who hate them)

 

Obviously most people don't know who the f*ck Eve Cornwell is but, among those who do, views seem to be polarised

LCisPropaganda 07 January 22 15:16

Having seen this comment section - I can confirm that RoF is miles better than LC. 
 

LC writers delete and alter the comments all the time. 
 

at least on here people can say what they think and be honest. 

Anonymous 07 January 22 15:20

I've just been on "thefitlondoner"'s profile. She is literally posting photos of what trainee work she needs to do and then posts an advert for vegan sausages.

Jesus Christ. I had to get to partner level before I could so blatantly slack off during the day.

Anonymous 07 January 22 15:40

Am I the only one who thought she was of East Asian heritage until reading these comments?

 

She's a white woman?!

dunce 07 January 22 17:31

reddit certainly loves her https://www.reddit.com/r/uklaw/comments/rx9r1x/thoughts_on_eve_cornwell_leaving_a_nq_role_at/

LL Associate 07 January 22 18:12

Spent years telling people about how much she wanted to be a corporate lawyer / how it was her dream job etc., […] took a qualification spot from others who wanted it and quit because she couldn’t hack it whilst spinning the whole thing as a positive pivot into #legaltech rather than owing up and telling the truth .

I said this would happen as soon as she took the job, but still leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

No problem with joining the firm not sure if it’s for you and leaving when you realise the reality, but the spin and publication of it all really is awful.

Would have much more respect if she had just got her head down during the TC and faded off into the background.

Anonymous 07 January 22 18:59

Tbf legal careers are difficult and she can't handle it/doesn't fancy it then it's best to get out early as possible.

 

Fair play 08 January 22 11:04

Good for her. Being a lawyer in a large firm is - generally speaking - a highly unpleasant experience. This isn’t about Eve being unable to “hack” being a city lawyer (running redlines, inputting comments and drafting corporate auths isn’t exactly difficult…), but her realising that it’s a pretty shitty job. The only significant plus is the money. 

Anonymous 08 January 22 12:41

I wonder what these influences in their 20s will do once they're in their 30s, 40s and 50s. I suppose the logical conclusion is they will start up some type of consultancy business to the teen and 20s influences but it appears to be a time limited business model.

My take on Eve is she is naive. Most people are in their teens to mid 20s.  

Nepotism Legal Recruitment 08 January 22 13:06

I suspect she tried to find a ''Woman in Tech'' job but did not succeed because she requires a degree in a STEM subject for a pure tech role. Because she couldn't get anywhere in her tech search - Corporate Associate job was a stop gap, she ''pivoted'' to this new role, which involves liaising with relevant experts e.g. software engineers etc.

Her new role does not require a degree is a technical discipline. It's unclear how she managed to secure a job as the advert requires 2 years' product management experience.

Her clarion call on LinkedIn demanding connecting with legal tech and tech professionals clearly shows that she will attempt to ''pivot'' further to a purely tech, non-legal related role once she secures an alternative role through ''networking''.

She's lucky to be earning £50k without experience for this role, but she probbaly is or more.

JD:

You will work closely with a multi-disciplinary team of software engineers, architects, designers, and lawyers to help develop the platform, ultimately delivering continued adoption and usage of the platform. You will act as the liaison between clients, Linklaters stakeholders and team members, and will be called upon to make key feature trade-off decisions.

We are looking for you to have at least 2 years of product management experience, preferably in a B2B SaaS environment developing enterprise solutions. A degree in a technical discipline (e.g., Computer Science, Electrical Engineering) and experience with legal processes is beneficial but not required.

Dear Eve 08 January 22 13:34

If you're reading this then good luck, but please start being authentic, honest and less pretentious. Wishing you the best in your new role x

Anon 08 January 22 14:14

Comments reek of incels. If you are not obsessed with Eve yourselves why do you have such intense hatred for this woman. Someone is even complaining because she is ‘on board with BLM’. So you’re upset because she’s … not racist? Get a life people.

JammieDodger 08 January 22 15:11

@Fair Play 11:04

This is exactly about her not being able to hack it though. 

The reason why she is being criticised is for being disingenuous about it. 

Even if being a lawyer isn't the most pleasant job (which many will agree in some respects), she, amongst other lawfluencers, should use her platform to be honest about it but the problem is she is tip toeing around the truth and trying to spin it as some coming of age tech babe STEM pivot, when it is clearly not. -->> that is the issue!

 

 

Anonymous 10 January 22 16:20

I remember when she was an absolutely girl next door aspirational lovely.

Now she has become something else. Don't like it. 

StirFry 10 January 22 20:16

@Anon 14:14 08 Jan

do you even know what an incel is??? Lmao that has no correlation to the comments under this article and the fact that many share a common view is very telling. 
 

the person who commented about her being onboard with BLM was clearly black themselves since they mentioned AAVE amongst other things. If a black person themselves tells you they can see someone using the BLM stamp as a way to do performative activism under the guise of influencing and being woke, then I would say they were right.
 

Simply having BLM in your bio doesn’t automatically mean you are not a racist?? What exactly has she done to improve diversity in the sector? Nothing. 
 

The real poison in today’s generation is STAN culture. The same way that Molly Mae was exposed and Grace Beverly before her, eve is not exempt from valid criticism either and you sound like a STAN coming here to defend someone who doesn’t even know you exist. 
 

Anon ethnic minority 10 January 22 22:56

@ 14:14 8 Jan 2022. Nobody criticised her for being a BLM ally nor has anyone psoted a comment taking issue with her for being anti-racist (assuming she is - she is perceived as not being so).

However, she doesn't appear to be actively involved in any anti-racism/racial equality/diversity initiatives - so your comment referencing racism is absurb and unfounded. Posting an insta story post-George Floyd is not allyship - racism isn't a populist movement. She hasn't posted anything about racism in errrr a couple of years? Stop using BLM/ethnic minorities as shield to deflect contructive feedback/criticism. 

Anon 11 January 22 16:55

I'm not a fan of hers, but I don't get people saying you should be honest about law not being the most pleasant job out there, but anyone with half a brain is not going to slag off their employer on social media. The problem is people watching her content not thinking critically and not realising that all influencers are trying to sell you something. 

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