As a trainee, what should you do if you are not assigned to work on bigger deals but merely working on smaller files compared to the other trainees and doing more legal exec/admin work instead of real legal work eg drafting submissions? Is it a sign of non-retention? If your boss doesn’t trust your ability to let you work on the important deals, how do you make the most of the TC in terms of gaining experience and cv building?

How do firms with many trainees select who is to be retained and when will we know if we are going to be retained?

For those who are not retained, do you face any stigma when applying to other firms for Assoc role?