England: City law firm partner criticised over £75 mentoring sessions for aspiring lawyers

Rachel Ford promoted the sessions through her personal TikTok account, where she shares content about life in the legal profession and advice for those seeking a career in law. The offer allowed users to book 45-minute one-to-one sessions at a cost of £75.

Ms Ford – who did not use her full name on the platform or reference her role at RPC – made her account private shortly after posting the video.

Legal Cheek, however, obtained a copy before the account was restricted. In the video, Ms Ford explained that when she was an aspiring and junior lawyer she had wanted access to someone established in the profession.

“I felt like there was no one really like that back when I was trying to get into the industry or training,” she said.

Ms Ford, who specialises in cyber and technology insurance, added: “I really love passing on knowledge and experience to more junior members in this industry. Love building people up, love giving people the tools for success, love just connecting with people. I find it very, very fulfilling.”

The solicitor, who has spent nearly 10 years at RPC and became a partner in 2024, said she was offering “one-to-one mentoring sessions” and directed viewers to a Linktree page via her TikTok profile. According to the page, 45 minutes of mentoring was priced at £75 – although the link no longer appears to be active.

“I’m actually only going to do four this month because life is just chaotic over here and I balancing a lot,” she continued. “But I don’t want to let this bit of me go so I am here if anyone wants to chat.”

In a statement RPC’s managing partner Antony Sassi said: “We recognise that everyone has a life outside work and value the diversity of thought and experience that brings. Our social media policy accepts that there is often a fine line between personal life and professional, particularly online. At RPC, we take our professional responsibilities and the reputation of the firm incredibly seriously and make it clear that we all need to exercise caution in treading that line, even when clearly operating in a personal capacity and with the best of intentions.”

He added: “As a firm, we are deeply committed to supporting people at different stages of their careers — whether they are aspiring lawyers, those in the early years of practice, or professionals balancing the demands of work and family life — through a range of established initiatives. These include structured mentoring opportunities that we actively encourage people to participate in, alongside longstanding and highly regarded pro bono and community engagement programmes.”