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Remember those old spy movies where the hero whips out this little camera and photographs the secret documents? Or the surprise on the villain's face when he has the hero covered with his gat and then finds out that the cops are in the next room, recording his hare-brained confession? Well, every associate's smartphone gives him more tricks today than 20th Century spies had up their sleeves. And that's where you can get into really, really big trouble . . .

Advice for the Lawlorn

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 recently began working with a recruiter who told me about some opportunities. When I researched those opportunities on the firms' websites, some of the firms wrote that they will take applications for the positions directly. When firms say this, is it advisable to apply directly?
Plus: Ask Ann a question

Law firm profits and lawyer productivity rebounded in 2010 - good signs that the market has turned a corner. However, demand was flat and revenues were up modestly compared to a weak 2009. Translation: The increase in profitability was largely driven by expense cuts.

Howrey partners voted yesterday to dissolve the firm, effective March 15, the firm announced in a press release issued late Wednesday.

The partners at Howrey have voted to dissolve the firm effective March 15. What happens to the firm's more than 100 associates now? Battle-tested veterans of firm collapse have this advice to offer: Do what's best for yourself. After all, "there isn't much benefit in going down with the ship," says Scott Andrews, who was one of the castaway after the wreck of Heller Ehrman.

An ambitious lawyer should seek out lawyer friends. Attorneys often move back and forth between firms or go in-house, sometimes several times in a career. So that lawyer you were hired at the same time as? She can be more than a pleasant lunch companion who encourages you to have a salad once in a while. She could wind up as a client. And that is the kind of lawyer friend lawyers like most.

Spurred by a group of female appellate judges, a panel recently considered several explanations for the low representation of women, including a lack of commitment by law firms to developing female talent, the pull of motherhood and family, and a lack of aggressiveness among women.

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