Ann Israel is the legal profession's Dear Abby. A New York legal recruiter since 1979, Ann is a past president of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants. Advice for the Lawlorn is updated every week.

Q: I am a former law professor. I have been invited to give a series of lectures on a topic that is unrelated to law. In promoting the classes, I have been referred to as a former law professor, so several people have addressed me as "professor." This happens when I run into a former students, but what might be appropriate in this scenario? I tried Google but came up empty, except you were close. Is this much ado about nothing?

Thank you,
Professor

Dear Professor: I see absolutely nothing wrong with you being addressed as "professor" when you are giving your lectures or when you run into former students, even though you are no longer teaching at this time.

Although I was unable to find any official documentation on this either, I am simply going on what seems to be customary practice.

If a judge retires from the bench, he or she is still always addressed as Judge So-and-So. A past president always has the honor of using that title; President Clinton will always be allowed the use of that title, even though he hasn't been in office for many years, and the same goes for H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter.

When a doctor retires from practice, he or she still retains the title of "Dr." in front of his or her name.

Etc., etc., etc.

So, I don't see any reason why you should feel there is anything inappropriate about being called or introduced as "professor."

On to another topic ...

Thanks to those of you who wrote in response to "Top" from last week's column who couldn't figure out why he couldn't get a job in the Boston legal job market. Here is a typical response from one of our readers:

"I think the answer to the mystery question is that 'Top' is looking for a job in Boston, where the number of lawyers is ridiculously high.

"I discovered that the Boston legal market is extremely competitive over the past two years. I was on law review at law school and hustled hard to get a job. I barely got one (as a clerk at Superior Court). There's a reason I'm not working in Boston though -- it's very tough to get a job there.

"Anyway, I wrote this quickly. Ignore the poor writing. I have to go prepare for my six federal clerkship interviews across the country in the next two weeks."

Well, I'm not certain that really clears things up for us, but there does seems to be a minor consensus telling us that Boston is one tough job market.

Any other thoughts?

Sincerely,
Ann Israel
President, Ann Israel & Associates