My PhD investigates how legal professionals signal authenticity through visual and behavioural non-conformity, and how these signals are interpreted within a profession marked by entrenched inequalities. By analysing appearance, self-disclosure and material artefacts, I will explore how some individuals can deploy authenticity advantageously while others encounter heightened scrutiny or risk. Using multimodal qualitative methods, my research seeks to deepen understanding of how authenticity is negotiated and governed in law-firm settings, and to show how competence and trust judgments are shaped not only by signalling strategies but also by the unequal structures that determine who is permitted to “be authentic.”