More BigLaw TikTok drama! Forum

[Anonymous User]

Why is it racist to at least suspect someone of being (comparably) underqualified for their job when their employer lowers the objective metrics for hiring people of that given category? You have to be an idiot not to at least suspect it.

Do you suspect the same thing of rich people/legacies? or can you not tell because they look like a historically typical biglaw associate (aka white)? Do you also assume the same of women and LGBT people? Also huge lol at thinking hiring is objective... please stop deluding yourself.

It's racist because you are using skin color as a proxy for something that could apply to literally anyone at the firm, but are only applying it to the group with the obviously different skin tone, unless you're going around and asking every attorney if their uncle is a client, as well.

Law firms are not recruiting legacies. (It's not college) They do recruit some rich people's kids who are woefully underqualified. And yes don't worry we all know who is there only bc of family $$$. It shows pretty quickly.

Yup, that’s why a bunch of firms have a number of partners whose parents were partners at peer firms, who never seemed to work the same hours as other associates when they were rising up the ranks but were always “anointed”. (Not saying they weren’t good lawyers, just that it was known that they’d be ok and favored when coming up the ranks.) This includes at STB - look at the current managing partner’s NYT wedding announcement to see what his father did, or where the Paul, Weiss managing partner’s daughter works.

I’m not condoning the tiktoker’s activity, or saying that these folks should be disqualified from biglaw practice. I’m just laughing at the notion that it’s ever an even playing field. Nepo babies are as real in big law as anywhere else. Many of the rest of us are expected to shut up and be cannon fodder.

Did you really try to argue that Karp's daughter, who graduated with honors from Cornell and HLS, got her STB offer largely because of her dad's connections? lol. Most people at HLS can get STB NYC without connections. (Wouldn't be surprised if his daughter got the fame & legacy boost for HLS though...)

Just because a number of biglaw partners' kids go on to biglaw too does not mean that those kids got their jobs through their parents since many of them end up going to top tier law schools (thanks to mommy's and daddy's money). Sure there are some that manage to irritatingly snake into partnership with less effort, but it's far less common than you'd think.

I'm not the poster you responded to and I'm not endorsing their (or any) view about race whatsoever.

As a separate point though: It's safe to assume that being Brad Karp's daughter played a role to her advantage when it came time to be considered for partner. There is no doubt that share partners at STB were more than familiar with daddy (PW chairman for 15 years) and that this was a factor in her becoming a partner. Was it a driving factor? There's no way to know unless you were part of the partner committee that made that decision.

If Brad Karp's daughter had made a tik tok bashing her firm, while mentioning that she's Brad Karp's daughter in the same tik tok, and then wasn't fired, it would be totally fair to say "She didn't get fired because she's Brad Karp's daughter." But given that didnt happen, I'm not sure what this conversation is about.

You can agree that there should be racial preference in hiring/employment decisions to promote diversity and counter years of institutional problems (including nepotism), while recognizing that an absolutely predictable side effect is that people will also notice that there are racial preferences in hiring/employment decisions.

[Anonymous User]

Sure, it probably played a role in her partnership to a small or large degree. On the other hand, being well connected can generate more business for a law firm (client relationships and so on), so even if nepotism is unfair, there are financial elements that sometimes warrants its supposed boost

Ok - so taking into account who your family is = warranted discrimination.

Taking into account someone's race when most of the building has looked lily white since 1884 = unfair and unwarranted.

Got it.

Nobody said it was unfair or unwarranted, as far as I can tell. It's just when you openly take into account race (which is correct, IMO) in hiring/firing decisions, then predictably people are going to think that you took into account race in certain hiring/firing decisions.

[Anonymous User]

double post

[Anonymous User]

I'd like to introduce a few new cringe big law and ex-big law content creators. I'll be listing them by the firm they are or were associated with.

McDermott: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRwuSdBW/
- This creator is not super cringe but I just don't understand what she's hoping to achieve in this video in particular? Imagine being caught filming yourself like this in a conference room at work. Setting up your phone across the room.

WSGR:
https://www.tiktok.com/@juliansarafian? ... MRQeB&_r=1
- I don't even have to explain how cringe this one is. Left big law because it's toxic. Spends all his time talking about big law, graduating (barely) from HLS, and having IBS.

Weil: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRwuM6Ue/
- This person wakes up every morning, sets up their tripod / phone, gets back into bed, and then pretends to wake up to start their "GRWM". Also just general white girl with framed "blessed" poster vibe in every video.

No clue what firm. LA big law:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRwuNpdL/
- So much cringe content. "My Chinese aunties said I wasn't cute. And now I'm a bad ass lawyer so F-you Auntie!" Shirt that says "Be the lawyer your mom always wanted you to marry."
We all know a girl like this one.

[Anonymous User]

I'd like to introduce a few new cringe big law and ex-big law content creators. I'll be listing them by the firm they are or were associated with.

McDermott: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRwuSdBW/
- This creator is not super cringe but I just don't understand what she's hoping to achieve in this video in particular? Imagine being caught filming yourself like this in a conference room at work. Setting up your phone across the room.

WSGR:
https://www.tiktok.com/@juliansarafian? ... MRQeB&_r=1
- I don't even have to explain how cringe this one is. Left big law because it's toxic. Spends all his time talking about big law, graduating (barely) from HLS, and having IBS.

Weil: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRwuM6Ue/
- This person wakes up every morning, sets up their tripod / phone, gets back into bed, and then pretends to wake up to start their "GRWM". Also just general white girl with framed "blessed" poster vibe in every video.

No clue what firm. LA big law:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRwuNpdL/
- So much cringe content. "My Chinese aunties said I wasn't cute. And now I'm a bad ass lawyer so F-you Auntie!" Shirt that says "Be the lawyer your mom always wanted you to marry."
We all know a girl like this one.

Can't be forgetting that dude from Kirkland who makes sure you know he went to Harvard in every video.

[Anonymous User]

Can't be forgetting that dude from Kirkland who makes sure you know he went to Harvard in every video.

Link? The only Kirkland tiktoker I've seen is Yoshi Haynie and he didn't go to HLS.

[hekisan656]

I'd like to introduce a few new cringe big law and ex-big law content creators. I'll be listing them by the firm they are or were associated with.

McDermott: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRwuSdBW/
- This creator is not super cringe but I just don't understand what she's hoping to achieve in this video in particular? Imagine being caught filming yourself like this in a conference room at work. Setting up your phone across the room.

WSGR:
https://www.tiktok.com/@juliansarafian? ... MRQeB&_r=1
- I don't even have to explain how cringe this one is. Left big law because it's toxic. Spends all his time talking about big law, graduating (barely) from HLS, and having IBS.

Weil: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRwuM6Ue/
- This person wakes up every morning, sets up their tripod / phone, gets back into bed, and then pretends to wake up to start their "GRWM". Also just general white girl with framed "blessed" poster vibe in every video.

No clue what firm. LA big law:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRwuNpdL/
- So much cringe content. "My Chinese aunties said I wasn't cute. And now I'm a bad ass lawyer so F-you Auntie!" Shirt that says "Be the lawyer your mom always wanted you to marry."
We all know a girl like this one.

I think the "film my morning" stuff is a bit weird yet not super cringe. But the cosplay + Taylor Swift combo takes cringe to a whole new level.

EDIT: the McDermott one might be just as cringe.

[Anonymous User]

Sure, it probably played a role in her partnership to a small or large degree. On the other hand, being well connected can generate more business for a law firm (client relationships and so on), so even if nepotism is unfair, there are financial elements that sometimes warrants its supposed boost

Ok - so taking into account who your family is = warranted discrimination.

Taking into account someone's race when most of the building has looked lily white since 1884 = unfair and unwarranted.

Got it.

Nobody said it was unfair or unwarranted, as far as I can tell. It's just when you openly take into account race (which is correct, IMO) in hiring/firing decisions, then predictably people are going to think that you took into account race in certain hiring/firing decisions.

DEI hiring is clearly financially motivated too, so if we accept nepotism because connections equals clients, surely non-meritocratic DEI hiring is also justified.

[Anonymous User]

Can't be forgetting that dude from Kirkland who makes sure you know he went to Harvard in every video.

Link? The only Kirkland tiktoker I've seen is Yoshi Haynie and he didn't go to HLS.

It's the harvard law school couple. He doesn't say it is Kirkland in his videos he just says it is a highly profitable and prestigious law firm so when he said that I basically knew immediately it had to be Kirkland lol.

[Anonymous User]

I think the "film my morning" stuff is a bit weird yet not super cringe. But the cosplay + Taylor Swift combo takes cringe to a whole new level.

EDIT: the McDermott one might be just as cringe.

Disagree! It's both weird and cringe. Picture these people setting up their cameras and staging these scenarios? They're fake waking up, stretching, and yawning. They do stuff like come home from work, walk inside their apartment, grab their tripod and phone and position it outside their apartment door, and then they walk back to the elevator, and film themselves walking from their elevators to their apartment door after a "long day in the office".

Edit: the McDermott one... I just realized the camera is moving while she's being filmed in the office. Did she ask one of her fellow associates to film? Dear God.

[Anonymous User]

"it's not happening"

"It's good that it's happening"

Pick one

[Anonymous User]

I'd like to introduce a few new cringe big law and ex-big law content creators. I'll be listing them by the firm they are or were associated with.

WSGR:
https://www.tiktok.com/@juliansarafian? ... MRQeB&_r=1
- I don't even have to explain how cringe this one is. Left big law because it's toxic. Spends all his time talking about big law, graduating (barely) from HLS, and having IBS.

That Julian guy sounds cringe, but I don't think he barely graduated from Harvard. He got all As 1L when he was at NYU Law (he transferred).

[Anonymous User]

I'd like to introduce a few new cringe big law and ex-big law content creators. I'll be listing them by the firm they are or were associated with.

WSGR:
https://www.tiktok.com/@juliansarafian? ... MRQeB&_r=1
- I don't even have to explain how cringe this one is. Left big law because it's toxic. Spends all his time talking about big law, graduating (barely) from HLS, and having IBS.

That Julian guy sounds cringe, but I don't think he barely graduated from Harvard. He got all As 1L when he was at NYU Law (he transferred).

Lmao wait he got a 4.0 at NYU Law and gave that all up just so he could satisfy an insecurity and say he went to Harvard Law. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

[Anonymous User]

I'd like to introduce a few new cringe big law and ex-big law content creators. I'll be listing them by the firm they are or were associated with.

WSGR:
https://www.tiktok.com/@juliansarafian? ... MRQeB&_r=1
- I don't even have to explain how cringe this one is. Left big law because it's toxic. Spends all his time talking about big law, graduating (barely) from HLS, and having IBS.

That Julian guy sounds cringe, but I don't think he barely graduated from Harvard. He got all As 1L when he was at NYU Law (he transferred).

I may be misremembering but thought he has made several videos about anxiety to the point of being sick to his stomach during law school. I wasn't commenting on his grades so much as his inability to cope with stress.

Also, what a genius. Transferring from NYU to HLS only to graduate and then work in corporate at WSGR. You could do that with slightly above median grades from any T14.

[Anonymous User]

If I was interviewing someone for a job and they had transferred from NYU Law to HLS it would seriously lower my opinion of them.

Also, is getting anxiety to the point of being sick to your stomach in law school THAT unusual? Lol it's definitely happened to me a couple times.

[Anonymous User]

Also, is getting anxiety to the point of being sick to your stomach in law school THAT unusual? Lol it's definitely happened to me a couple times.

I didn't watch the videos, but it's one thing as a response to something like high-pressure like a final exam or moot court or something; it's another if it's a daily or regular occurrence.

[Anonymous User]

Also, is getting anxiety to the point of being sick to your stomach in law school THAT unusual? Lol it's definitely happened to me a couple times.

I didn't watch the videos, but it's one thing as a response to something like high-pressure like a final exam or moot court or something; it's another if it's a daily or regular occurrence.

Lol fair enough. I definitely feel physical symptoms of the worry sometimes, but it's not like it ever stops me from getting out of bed and attacking the day or whatever.

[Anonymous User]

Also, is getting anxiety to the point of being sick to your stomach in law school THAT unusual? Lol it's definitely happened to me a couple times.

I didn't watch the videos, but it's one thing as a response to something like high-pressure like a final exam or moot court or something; it's another if it's a daily or regular occurrence.

Lol fair enough. I definitely feel physical symptoms of the worry sometimes, but it's not like it ever stops me from getting out of bed and attacking the day or whatever.

Which pretty much rules out clinical anxiety in your case, congratulations, but doesn’t say much about anyone else’s situation.

[Anonymous User]

If I was interviewing someone for a job and they had transferred from NYU Law to HLS it would seriously lower my opinion of them.

Also, is getting anxiety to the point of being sick to your stomach in law school THAT unusual? Lol it's definitely happened to me a couple times.

Especially with a 4.0. Unless they gave me a reason like my mom was injured and lived in Boston and I needed to help her full time, I would assume they are painfully insecure and desperately wanted the name.

[Anonymous User]

I'd like to introduce a few new cringe big law and ex-big law content creators. I'll be listing them by the firm they are or were associated with.

McDermott: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRwuSdBW/
- This creator is not super cringe but I just don't understand what she's hoping to achieve in this video in particular? Imagine being caught filming yourself like this in a conference room at work. Setting up your phone across the room.

WSGR:
https://www.tiktok.com/@juliansarafian? ... MRQeB&_r=1
- I don't even have to explain how cringe this one is. Left big law because it's toxic. Spends all his time talking about big law, graduating (barely) from HLS, and having IBS.

Weil: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRwuM6Ue/
- This person wakes up every morning, sets up their tripod / phone, gets back into bed, and then pretends to wake up to start their "GRWM". Also just general white girl with framed "blessed" poster vibe in every video.

No clue what firm. LA big law:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRwuNpdL/
- So much cringe content. "My Chinese aunties said I wasn't cute. And now I'm a bad ass lawyer so F-you Auntie!" Shirt that says "Be the lawyer your mom always wanted you to marry."
We all know a girl like this one.

Mr Powell, another 450 basis points, please

[Anonymous User]

I'd like to introduce a few new cringe big law and ex-big law content creators. I'll be listing them by the firm they are or were associated with.

WSGR:
https://www.tiktok.com/@juliansarafian? ... MRQeB&_r=1
- I don't even have to explain how cringe this one is. Left big law because it's toxic. Spends all his time talking about big law, graduating (barely) from HLS, and having IBS.

That Julian guy sounds cringe, but I don't think he barely graduated from Harvard. He got all As 1L when he was at NYU Law (he transferred).

I may be misremembering but thought he has made several videos about anxiety to the point of being sick to his stomach during law school. I wasn't commenting on his grades so much as his inability to cope with stress.

Also, what a genius. Transferring from NYU to HLS only to graduate and then work in corporate at WSGR. You could do that with slightly above median grades from any T14.

"only to graduate and then work in corporate at WSGR"... and then market himself to the lay masses to gain a following. One of the only times HLS makes sense over NYU is if marketing yourself to lay people is an important part of your career. For 99.9% of lawyers it is not. For Julian it is basically the core of his career at this point. He probably would not have the following he has if he went to Penn (or stayed at NYU) or something rather than being able to say Harvard Law.

If I say "my plan is to start a legal podcast in a few years targeted to laypeople, is HLS or NYU better," then the answer would by HLS hands down...

So he is probably one of the very few people for whom transferring has actually been important to his career. Make fun of him for other stuff, but transferring seems to have worked out pretty well.

[throwawayt14]

I'd like to introduce a few new cringe big law and ex-big law content creators. I'll be listing them by the firm they are or were associated with.

WSGR:
https://www.tiktok.com/@juliansarafian? ... MRQeB&_r=1
- I don't even have to explain how cringe this one is. Left big law because it's toxic. Spends all his time talking about big law, graduating (barely) from HLS, and having IBS.

That Julian guy sounds cringe, but I don't think he barely graduated from Harvard. He got all As 1L when he was at NYU Law (he transferred).

I may be misremembering but thought he has made several videos about anxiety to the point of being sick to his stomach during law school. I wasn't commenting on his grades so much as his inability to cope with stress.

Also, what a genius. Transferring from NYU to HLS only to graduate and then work in corporate at WSGR. You could do that with slightly above median grades from any T14.

"only to graduate and then work in corporate at WSGR"... and then market himself to the lay masses to gain a following. One of the only times HLS makes sense over NYU is if marketing yourself to lay people is an important part of your career. For 99.9% of lawyers it is not. For Julian it is basically the core of his career at this point. He probably would not have the following he has if he went to Penn (or stayed at NYU) or something rather than being able to say Harvard Law.

If I say "my plan is to start a legal podcast in a few years targeted to laypeople, is HLS or NYU better," then the answer would by HLS hands down...

So he is probably one of the very few people for whom transferring has actually been important to his career. Make fun of him for other stuff, but transferring seems to have worked out pretty well.

I briefly looked this guy's story up, and I think he transferred out of a misguided sense of wanting prestige. On some article I saw, he seems pretty self-aware about it though.

Also, I really didn't find his written work to be cringe at all -- I concede I have not watched any of his tiktok videos though. His story appears to be pretty common at law schools, chasing prestige and working very hard out of a sense that being successful in law is just "impressive" in some way, and then finding out that there is much more to life than getting a 4.0 and working 2000+ hours at a big law job.

I found it fairly refreshing, it doesn't seem to be like he entered law school and big law for the express purpose of trying to get famous on social media.

[Anonymous User]

I'd like to introduce a few new cringe big law and ex-big law content creators. I'll be listing them by the firm they are or were associated with.

WSGR:
https://www.tiktok.com/@juliansarafian? ... MRQeB&_r=1
- I don't even have to explain how cringe this one is. Left big law because it's toxic. Spends all his time talking about big law, graduating (barely) from HLS, and having IBS.

That Julian guy sounds cringe, but I don't think he barely graduated from Harvard. He got all As 1L when he was at NYU Law (he transferred).

I may be misremembering but thought he has made several videos about anxiety to the point of being sick to his stomach during law school. I wasn't commenting on his grades so much as his inability to cope with stress.

Also, what a genius. Transferring from NYU to HLS only to graduate and then work in corporate at WSGR. You could do that with slightly above median grades from any T14.

"only to graduate and then work in corporate at WSGR"... and then market himself to the lay masses to gain a following. One of the only times HLS makes sense over NYU is if marketing yourself to lay people is an important part of your career. For 99.9% of lawyers it is not. For Julian it is basically the core of his career at this point. He probably would not have the following he has if he went to Penn (or stayed at NYU) or something rather than being able to say Harvard Law.

If I say "my plan is to start a legal podcast in a few years targeted to laypeople, is HLS or NYU better," then the answer would by HLS hands down...

So he is probably one of the very few people for whom transferring has actually been important to his career. Make fun of him for other stuff, but transferring seems to have worked out pretty well.

Dawg, if he transferred with a 4.0 from NYU to HLS so he could start a legal podcast targeted to laypeople I'm absolutely going to make fun of him for that.

[hekisan656]

I'd like to introduce a few new cringe big law and ex-big law content creators. I'll be listing them by the firm they are or were associated with.

WSGR:
https://www.tiktok.com/@juliansarafian? ... MRQeB&_r=1
- I don't even have to explain how cringe this one is. Left big law because it's toxic. Spends all his time talking about big law, graduating (barely) from HLS, and having IBS.

That Julian guy sounds cringe, but I don't think he barely graduated from Harvard. He got all As 1L when he was at NYU Law (he transferred).

I may be misremembering but thought he has made several videos about anxiety to the point of being sick to his stomach during law school. I wasn't commenting on his grades so much as his inability to cope with stress.

Also, what a genius. Transferring from NYU to HLS only to graduate and then work in corporate at WSGR. You could do that with slightly above median grades from any T14.

"only to graduate and then work in corporate at WSGR"... and then market himself to the lay masses to gain a following. One of the only times HLS makes sense over NYU is if marketing yourself to lay people is an important part of your career. For 99.9% of lawyers it is not. For Julian it is basically the core of his career at this point. He probably would not have the following he has if he went to Penn (or stayed at NYU) or something rather than being able to say Harvard Law.

If I say "my plan is to start a legal podcast in a few years targeted to laypeople, is HLS or NYU better," then the answer would by HLS hands down...

So he is probably one of the very few people for whom transferring has actually been important to his career. Make fun of him for other stuff, but transferring seems to have worked out pretty well.

I briefly looked this guy's story up, and I think he transferred out of a misguided sense of wanting prestige. On some article I saw, he seems pretty self-aware about it though.

Also, I really didn't find his written work to be cringe at all -- I concede I have not watched any of his tiktok videos though. His story appears to be pretty common at law schools, chasing prestige and working very hard out of a sense that being successful in law is just "impressive" in some way, and then finding out that there is much more to life than getting a 4.0 and working 2000+ hours at a big law job.

I found it fairly refreshing, it doesn't seem to be like he entered law school and big law for the express purpose of trying to get famous on social media.

You're certainly right that most people don't enter school with the purpose of becoming famous.

Rather, I think the point is that being famous on social media and the decision to transfer from NYU to HLS are both inextricably linked with status and prestige.

Proof: the obvious truth that stating "I go to HLS" on TikTok at every opportunity is what helps you grow. And unless you are chasing the most elite clerkship outcomes possible, I don't think there's a single justifiable non-personal or non-prestige reason to transfer from 4.0 NYU to HLS. Just look at the clerkship forum and how many HLS transfers complain about striking out because they are now a very regular fish in a very big pond.

[Anonymous User]

I'd like to introduce a few new cringe big law and ex-big law content creators. I'll be listing them by the firm they are or were associated with.

WSGR:
https://www.tiktok.com/@juliansarafian? ... MRQeB&_r=1
- I don't even have to explain how cringe this one is. Left big law because it's toxic. Spends all his time talking about big law, graduating (barely) from HLS, and having IBS.

That Julian guy sounds cringe, but I don't think he barely graduated from Harvard. He got all As 1L when he was at NYU Law (he transferred).

I may be misremembering but thought he has made several videos about anxiety to the point of being sick to his stomach during law school. I wasn't commenting on his grades so much as his inability to cope with stress.

Also, what a genius. Transferring from NYU to HLS only to graduate and then work in corporate at WSGR. You could do that with slightly above median grades from any T14.

"only to graduate and then work in corporate at WSGR"... and then market himself to the lay masses to gain a following. One of the only times HLS makes sense over NYU is if marketing yourself to lay people is an important part of your career. For 99.9% of lawyers it is not. For Julian it is basically the core of his career at this point. He probably would not have the following he has if he went to Penn (or stayed at NYU) or something rather than being able to say Harvard Law.

If I say "my plan is to start a legal podcast in a few years targeted to laypeople, is HLS or NYU better," then the answer would by HLS hands down...

So he is probably one of the very few people for whom transferring has actually been important to his career. Make fun of him for other stuff, but transferring seems to have worked out pretty well.

This is hilarious. Are you suggesting his transferring from NYU to HLS and working in corporate at WSGR was strategically done because he knew he wanted a career as an influencer? LOL