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Every Monday, Ann Israel, president of Ann Israel & Associates, Inc. and a past president of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants, answers your questions about how to find a new law firm job, interviews, resumes and much more. Today's topic: I know I need to go out there and meet people to build a career. But people keep telling me I have no hope of finding a job, which gets very demoralizing.
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Helping Colleagues in Crisis

A recent study suggests that lawyers are six times more likely to commit suicide than the rest of the population. The competition, stress and long hours of a career at a large law firm or small can have devestating effects on lawyers, their families and their health, In the wake of the recent apparent suicide of a Baker & Hostetler partner, an expert provides insights into the warning signs of a crisis and steps to take to help a co-worker.

The lobby of a law firm can be like an attorney’s orthodontically perfect smile after lunch. It’s pretty to look at, but there may be a bad smell right behind it. Yep, you surely can tell a number of things about a firm by its décor, which is generally in its most concentrated and deliberate form in the reception area.

By most measures, 2009 was a dismal year for the legal industry. One notable exception to the drumbeat of record layoffs and bankruptcy actions: By our count, there were also a record number of lateral partner moves in The Am Law 200.

Every Tuesday, Linda E. Laufer, Firmwide Director of Attorney Development at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, answers your questions about what to do next in your career. She can advise you where to go from here, whether you are trying to find your place on the legal map, make some changes in the scenery, or blaze a trail out of practice altogether. Of course, the views that she expresses are her own and not those of Morgan Lewis. Today's topic: Firms looking for recent graduates won't look at my resume, even though I only have 1-3 years of experience anyway if you consider my long employment gaps. Since I've been all over the place with my jobs, I don't have any specialization. So, how should I handle job postings? Or should I not bother, and just get a new career?
Plus: Ask Linda a question

Firm retreats serve many purposes, all of which are of great importance to firm management (but no one else): renewing old friendships and making new ones, relieving the stress of the legal life, passing on firm culture and, of course, further swelling the already bloated egos of the leading partners. And, uh, the inevitable drunken hookup.

  News Watch

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