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&lt;p&gt;Reports of Howrey&amp;rsquo;s upcoming dissolution raise an important question: what should associates at sinking firms do to save themselves? In the Am Law Daily&amp;rsquo;s recent post on this topic, the consensus seemed to be to &amp;ldquo;[d]o what&#39;s best for yourself.&amp;rdquo; Of course, doing what&amp;rsquo;s best isn&amp;rsquo;t always obvious. At what point should an associate make the call that his or her firm is in trouble and he or she should head for the exit?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&amp;rsquo;s a difficult question, and since associates aren&amp;rsquo;t privy to partners&amp;rsquo; discussions on the economic stability of the firm, they can&amp;rsquo;t receive a guarantee of the firm&amp;rsquo;s failure until it actually happens. But if partners begin leaving in droves or there is talk of another firm swooping in to &quot;rescue&amp;rdquo; your firm, you may want to start considering your options. Below are some tips based on the Am Law Daily&#39;s interviews with attorneys from now-dissolved law firms.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;1.&lt;strong&gt;Ditch the loyalty.&lt;/strong&gt; You may love your firm, but warm-and-fuzzies won&amp;rsquo;t get you far if the firm dissolves. Scott Andrews, who worked as an associate at Heller Ehrman, &quot;knew Heller was doomed,&amp;rdquo; but he was &amp;ldquo;in a little bit of denial.&amp;rdquo; And while his loyalty didn&amp;rsquo;t leave him on the streets&amp;mdash;Andrews landed a job at another firm about a month before Heller closed its doors&amp;mdash;Andrews advises associates to push loyalty aside. &quot;People at Heller trickled out for a long time, and those of us who had a strong belief in the firm stayed,&quot; he says. &quot;That caused a lot of people to end up jobless, whereas they might have found something had they gone out earlier. It&#39;s hard to find a job when everyone else is looking.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;2. &lt;strong&gt;Toss Your Nerves and Show Your Interest. &lt;/strong&gt; Get bold, and speak with departing partners about the possibility of you following them. &quot;Your job is on the line, so now is the time to swallow your nervousness and have that conversation with the partner,&quot; says Christopher Lewis, former partner at Thacher Proffit &amp;amp; Wood. It&amp;rsquo;s an uncomfortable conversation, but one possible upshot is getting a job. And you never know what benefits may come from networking with partners.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;3.&lt;strong&gt;Network.&lt;/strong&gt; Dig into your network, and use your resources to plot your next step. Lewis suggests creating &amp;ldquo; a list of everyone you&#39;ve ever worked on a deal with, everyone you went to school with, everyone you know and reach out to them.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;4.&lt;strong&gt;Stay positive.&lt;/strong&gt; According to Adam Bergman, who worked as an associate at Thelen, &quot;[i]t was tough dealing with the constant gossip and hush-hush talking.&amp;rdquo; Try to steer clear of gossip and negative conversations, and instead focus on your career and your next steps.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;5.&lt;strong&gt;What do you want to do?&lt;/strong&gt; While your firm going under wasn&amp;rsquo;t exactly in your master career plan, it may provide you with a chance to get introspective and decide what you really want to do with your life. Take time to consider your options. When Thelen dissolved, Bergman realized he didn&amp;rsquo;t want to practice law and went on to create a tax and financial consulting firm. &amp;ldquo;Who knows? If Thelen didn&#39;t go under, I might be sitting in a law firm now, doing tax research and working all night,&quot; he says.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The key is to focus on your career success.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Am Law Daily Source &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Read More:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt; BigLaw Firm Howrey LLP to dissolve&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;FOLLOW VAULT LAW ON TWITTER! @VaultLaw&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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