The Perfect Lawyer

In ThePerfect Lawyer, former Managing Partner and law firm management consultantSimon McCrum deep dives into what makes a perfect lawyer in a perfect legalbusiness. It is someone who does a great job from the client’s perspective butalso does a great job from their law firm’s – and they are very differentthings.

What makes a perfect lawyer? Tostart answering this question, we need to use a classic lawyer approach - itdepends! In The PerfectLawyer, former Managing Partner and law firm management consultant SimonMcCrum deep dives into what makes a perfect lawyer in a perfect legal business. It is someone who does a great job from the client’s perspective but also doesa great job from their law firm’s – and they are very different things. Whencombined effectively, such lawyers not only change their clients’ lives, butalso the destiny of the legal business they work in, and the lives ofthemselves and their colleagues. The perfect lawyer’s attributes include making a materialcommercial contribution to the business, which is wider than just billing. Theyneed to be self-aware and to exhibit leadership behaviours. They see clients asclients rather than just as cases, and they are an active member of a teamwhere everyone is rowing in the same and right direction. A perfect lawyer isintolerant of inefficiency on their part, and they are determined to securemaximum value for both the client (in terms of the experience and the outcome)and for the business (in terms of profit and cash and pride) in return fortheir expertise and passion. Whether you are part of a largelegal firm or a small one, the themes explored in The Perfect Lawyer examinethe symbiosis between a law firm’s team members and the organisation, asthey both evolve into higher-earning and more effective entities. The Perfect Lawyer is the culmination of the manythings that Simon has seen repeatedly in law firms of all sizes. Indeed, alawyer who embraces all the things detailed in this book can rightly be called theperfect lawyer. In becoming that, they will inevitably help create the perfect legalbusiness. Note:This book is the updated edition of The Perfect Lawyer, originallypublished in 2023. It is the sister book to The Perfect Legal Business inthat it looks at many of the same themes in that book, but from the viewpointof the individual lawyer. As such, it contains material that crosses bothtitles. If you already have a copy of The Perfect LegalBusiness or, indeed, the first edition of The Perfect Lawyer, youwill not need this one. About Simon McCrum: Simon McCrum qualified as a commercial lawyer in1990 at Pannone in Manchester, and during his time at the firm, his roleevolved from fee-earner into wider positions including Head of various teams,Marketing Partner, Director of Business Development, Equity Partner, and partof the Management Team at the 1,000 person firm. In 2007, Simon became ManagingPartner at a full-service Top 200 law firm in Oxford, Darbys Solicitors. Thefirm made a trading loss in 2007, but after going a long way backwards - andexperiencing the 2008 Credit Crunch - the firm emerged to be the country’sfastest-growing law firm and was acquired by Knights in 2016. Simonsubsequently exited to form McCrum Consulting and the McCrum Training Academyto help the business performance and growth of law firms, teams, and lawyers. Simon helps partners, teams, and firms to secure ongoing growth in a safe,sustainable way. Simon is the author of theLaw Firm Management and Leadership Trilogy of which this book forms part, alongwith The Perfect Legal Business and The Perfect Partner.