Big Sis Briefing: Selling The Dream Through People Who Can’t Say No

A few people have sent me the same reel this week. A top tier law firm. A slick Instagram video. Current clerks front and centre, smiling, laughing, talking about how fun the experience is, how welcoming everyone feels and how exciting the work has been.

On one level, I get why this content exists.

Law firms are businesses. They compete for talent and Instagram is where law students spend time. Employee-generated content performs better than polished brand ads. The profession is slowly waking up to the idea that social platforms matter and that feels very overdue.

But there’s another layer here that’s harder to ignore.

The Power Imbalance

Clerks sit in a uniquely vulnerable position. They’re temporary, they’re assessed, they’re keen and they’re part of a pipeline that leads to graduate roles or at least to keeping options open. Nothing about that context creates a clean power dynamic.

When someone in that position is asked to appear in a marketing video, the question isn’t whether they signed a consent form. The real question is whether they felt they had a genuine choice. Could they say no without worrying it would be noticed, could they opt out without feeling like they were failing an unspoken test, could they decide they simply didn’t want to be on social media, full stop?

Those questions matter.

This isn’t a criticism of the individuals involved. Most clerks are doing exactly what they should be doing: showing up, being enthusiastic, making a good impression, learning as much as they can in a short window of time. It’s also not a criticism of firms using social media. That ship has sailed. Employee-generated content is only going to increase and firms that ignore that will lose visibility with future talent.

My discomfort comes from what’s being represented and who’s being asked to represent it.

The highlight reel versus the job

A clerkship is not the job. By design, it’s a highlight reel: short rotations, extra support, social events and exposure without full responsibility. It’s meant to be attractive and it’s meant to show possibility rather than pressure.

That experience bears little resemblance to life as a second year associate or a fourth year associate. Longer hours, less margin for error, real client pressure, internal politics, performance expectations and billable targets that sit quietly but constantly in the background.

Anyone who has worked in a top tier firm knows this, which is why inside the profession these reels often land as disingenuous rather than inspiring.

Honestly, they’re actually ripe for parody too and they get it: the comments, the quote tweets, the Reddit threads picking apart every polished frame.

Outside the profession, particularly for students, they land very differently.

This is advertising. Polished, selective, optimised for a specific audience. That doesn’t make it wrong but it does mean it should be read with care.

The Gig Is Up

Here’s what big law firms need to understand: the information asymmetry they used to rely on doesn’t exist anymore.

There are too many of us now. Former associates, burned out seniors, people who left and built different careers. We came through big law, we lived the reality behind the brand and we talk.

We talk to law students in DMs, we answer questions on Reddit, we share our stories openly because we remember what it was like to be desperate for the truth and getting nothing but marketing copy and reassurances that didn’t match what we could see with our own eyes.

The next generation isn’t naive. They’re skeptical. They’ve watched people leave, they’ve heard the stories, they know to ask the questions that don’t make it into the Instagram carousel.

So if you want to actually shift how you’re perceived, posting clerk testimonials isn’t going to cut it. You need a genuine rebrand and that requires actual evidence of cultural change: real metrics, transparent retention data, honest conversations about what it takes and what it costs.

I don’t believe any top tier firm has done that work yet and until they do, the credibility gap will keep growing.

What would actually work

What would land more honestly is content that speaks to the substance rather than the gloss. Not the free lunches or the coffee catchups, but the training, the rigour, the pace, the expectations, the reality of performing under sustained pressure and the type of person who thrives in that environment.

That kind of honesty doesn’t scare off the right candidates. It attracts them.

Be real about who you’re for and what it really takes. The trade-off pitch is actually far more compelling and creates a much better fit anyway. Some people want that intensity, they want the prestige, they’re willing to pay the price for the training and the credential and the exit opportunities. That’s a legitimate pitch. It just needs to be honest.

There’s also a missed opportunity here.

Imagine hearing from associates who are a few years in, people who can speak to the full picture: the trade-offs, the growth, the cost, the rewards. That content would still be compelling and it would respect the intelligence of the audience watching.

Instead, the burden of selling the dream often falls to those with the least power to push back on the narrative.

What this means for everyone involved

Marketing teams aren’t villains in this story, they’re just doing their jobs. But law is a profession with long memories and a strong internal culture. Content doesn’t exist in a vacuum and how it lands inside the industry matters as much as how it performs outside it.

For students watching these reels, the most important thing to remember is this: what you’re seeing is a slice. It’s not a lie, but it’s not the whole truth either. Every workplace has a version of itself it puts on display and your job is to ask what sits just outside the frame.

For firms, the opportunity is to trust that honesty works. Students are capable of understanding trade-offs and they deserve clarity about what they’re opting into.

For clerks, if you felt proud to be part of something, that’s valid. If you felt uncomfortable but went along with it anyway, that also deserves to be named.

Social media marketing in our industry isn’t going away. The only real question is whether we use it to polish the fantasy or to tell the truth.

I know what I’ll be doing.

Mel

✨