What does it take to build a law firm that doesn’t depend on you? In this episode of The Law Firm Blueprint, Jay Ruane and Seth Price sit down with longtime friend and colleague Michael McCready to talk about his new book, Built to Run: Designing a Business That Thrives Without You — 30 years of lessons distilled into one playbook.

Michael opens on the “hero complex” that caps most firms: when everything runs through the owner, growth stalls. From there, the conversation turns practical — recruiting, training, and retaining the right people, the real tension between holding out for A-players and hiring the warm bodies a busy firm needs, and how 30 years of data lets him forecast exactly when to add intake, case managers, and medical-records staff.

They also debate which non-revenue C-suite hire delivers the most for a growing firm, why delegating the work you enjoy is often the hardest step, and the four sequential skills every owner must master.

Built to Run releases November 10, 2026, on Amazon, Simon & Schuster, and other retailers in hardcover and Kindle.