"I'm 2PQE at a top 25 firm. The pay isn't great and the firm is not that highly recognised in the department that I am in, but the hours are not crazy so I am able to have a bit of a life – a bonus in the City!

"However, recently I have felt bullied and underappreciated. I had attempted to align myself to a partner ('Partner X'); this was going very well and I became a member of his small team. I was not getting chargeable work all the time, doing a fair bit of BD and other low-value work, but I was assured that my value to the firm was more than just billable hours and that I was well appreciated. Partner X raved about the chargeable drafting work and BD work I had done, telling other partners how well I was doing.

"Then it all randomly changed. I somehow bruised Partner X's ego and he completely turned on me. He accused me of not being a team player, not working hard enough and not staying late enough. Partner X said it was my bad form I was not meeting my billable hours target when the senior associates in the team were busy. The fact is that they hog and don't delegate work, despite me requesting it at every opportunity.

"I was told by Partner X to change my ways or work for another partner, so I carefully tried to broaden the field of partners for whom I work.

"Partner X has now hung me out to dry. He has spoken to other partners about his 'new view' of me and they have believed him. Despite the fact that I'm trying hard, the fact is that Partner X has tarnished my name in the department among the senior partners and I now need to rebuild it.

"So do I just go somewhere new and start afresh? Or am I likely to run into another Partner X at every other firm – could it end up being 'out of the frying pan into the fire'…?