Our Favourite Book

There have been many collections of Queen’s Counsel cartoons published over the years but the most recent – The Queen's Counsel Official Lawyer’s Handbook – is definitely our best book ever. I say “our” because the original Official Lawyer’s Handbook was written by US author Daniel R. White back in the 80’s, and was something of a sensation, allowing Dan to throw in his legal career and spend much of his time on TV and entertaining lawyers at conferences.

A few years ago I saw the original OLH was out of print, so I tracked Dan down to his lair in Los Angeles and pitched him an English version. “I’ll do the work”, I said – all you have to do is check the proofs and relax. We’ll bring the book up to date, make it British, – make it come alive for a new generation of law students.

What I love about the book is its honesty – and its accuracy. The chapter on making partner in a law firm is laugh out loud funny and depressingly accurate. Like all good satire – it's funny because it's true.

The book should really be titled – "Everything they should have taught you at law school – but didn't".

—-Alex