"The basic ethos of my firm seems to be 'survival of the fittest'.

The management style is to refuse the junior any control and bully them into submission.

My function is to churn out work for the partners – I barely have my own caseload.

I am not allowed to develop a working relationship with any of the more prestigious clients and I often have to sign letters in the partners' name rather than my own.

I am frequently expected to step in to the middle of somebody else's case, of which I have little experience, and am then blamed for any mistakes that are made.

As a result, I find much of my work boring and pointless, because it isn't in fact "my" work. I now switch off and make mistakes, the kind I never made before.

My thoroughness and conscientiousness are impeded by having a matter taken away from me.
When I do get something wrong, I am cold-shouldered for days.

My weaknesses are exaggerated and picked-on, yet I am never praised for work well done. I do not feel as if I can approach any of the other partners.

They have an attitude of cold superiority about them and the management committee is poisonous.

Such an atmosphere of criticism makes me feel like giving up. My confidence has diminished to the point where I am frightened to open a file or make a phone call.

My current firm is such a contrast to the one at which I trained. There I felt recognised as a thinking individual, encouraged to talk things through and praised when I did well.

Any criticism was constructive and inspired me to do better.

But now I am merely expected to make fast bucks for my employer. My interest in law is regarded as "scatty" and any questioning is regarded as an admission of ignorance or insubordination.
can't wait to leave."