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.

Dear Readers:

As we get ready for the end of the year coming up this week, not all of us are in a festive mood. It seems to be more of a bleak holiday season this year than ever before in our lifetimes. But cheer up kiddies, 2009 is around the corner and let's hope for the best! Bailouts are flowing and suddenly the crooks are creating more work to be given out to every law firm in the country. Could it be that law firms will have to start hiring again?

I certainly am hoping for lots of good news to start jingling over the phone lines right after the holidays. But for now, as reality sets in, let's take one more look at some options for the 2Ls and 3Ls out there who are worried about their future.

Our mysterious friend, the Unemployed Lawyer (www.unemployedlawyers.com) has been very generous to us in his concern and also in sharing ideas for those 2Ls and 3Ls without employment set up upon graduation. I urge all of you to read his blog as it is uplifting and filled with thoughts and ideas. BTW, many of these ideas could certainly work for unemployed associates and/or partners just as well as for law students. Recently he (I don't know why I assume it is a man; Unemployed Lawyer could just as easily be a woman) sent me the following message:

Dear Ann,

Thought you might like to see this for your onslaught of questions from the 2Ls and 3Ls who have just found out they didn't have jobs after all. A pretty amazing comeback:

From: Calling All Unemployed Lawyers
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 11:12 PM
To: Unemployed@unemployedlawyers.com
Subject: New Comment on The Kindness of Strangers [1] at Calling All Unemployed Lawyers

Comment:

Thank you so much for starting this site. I was a 2L this past summer with Big Law in Texas, and I, along with half of my summer class, did not get offers because of "performance." This was all pretty much baloney because no one got bad reviews during the summer, and it was only the corporate associates who didn't get hired, rather than the litigation ones. So, after a month of despair, I got off my laurels, entered a tax LLM program, and got another summer associate job for this summer. I'm only hoping this one works out better, and I applaud you for being a voice in the insanity of ATL, etc. noting that who aren't hired or who weren't fired are not stupid, etc. This is a sucky time, and we can only hope it gets better.

Thanks!
Finally beginning to see the Light at the End of the Tunnel

The Unemployed Lawyer also wrote to me about a column from a few weeks ago in which a reader told us how he turned around his failed job search. The reader wrote, in part:

I'm responding to Beyond Discouraged. My road to a Mid-Sized Law firm was very nerve-racking to say the least. I found out in February of my 3L year that I was not offered a position at the firm where I did my 2L summer and had been working at my 3L year. Of course, I was discouraged and upset in the days following this rejection. However, I decided I needed to re-evaluate my goals and job hunting strategy. This is how I turned it around ... .

Unemployed Lawyer wrote:

Dear Ann,

Clerking is one of the best things anyone can do. Look everywhere that you can possibly go, in the geographical sense. Also keep in mind that many federal judges have career clerks, who are given extended maternity and other leaves. The stranded judges are often very happy to find a ready, willing and able candidate to keep things running smoothly. Staff attorney positions in federal courts, at any level from BR to appellate, usually end up in judicial chambers pretty quickly. Even if not, the staff attorney job is fun -- you get to work for all the judges and learn a lot, without over-close supervision. I strongly advise anyone looking for a job to look at clerking for a judge, even in places where all the doors are supposedly closed. Hope this helps.

Your buddy,
The Unemployed Lawyer

Outstanding advice from someone who clearly has been there before. Leave no stones unturned, my friends. I hope Santa or the Chanukah menorah (or whomever or whatever) was very good to all of you last week because you certainly deserved it. It's been a tough couple of months but somehow, somewhere the end will be near and the gray skies will clear up. Hang in there and don't give up -- I know you won't. Best wishes and may we all have a very happy, healthy and -- with a little bit of luck -- prosperous 2009!

Sincerely,
Ann Israel
President, Ann Israel & Associates