Female attorneys are leaving the practice of law. Although this isn’t a new problem, it’s a problem that has plagued the legal profession for decades. Many departures go unexplained and leave legal employers reeling. While answers may be hard to come by, I suggest that legal employers look to an unlikely source for information: TikTok. TikTok is a social media networking platform that allows users to post short-form videos ranging from 15 seconds to several minutes. Users can post, view, share and comment on the videos that other users create. TikTok is well known among Gen Z, but has also attracted a subset of unlikely users: female attorneys.

As with many industries, the COVID-19 pandemic left many female attorneys feeling alone and isolated. I started my legal career in 2019 as a judicial clerk and joined a law firm as an associate in fall 2020. While working from home I craved connection with my peers and the legal industry as a whole. Because in-person connection was out of the question, I turned to the internet and stumbled upon #LawyerTikTok.