Going solo Sole practitioners have been firmly embedded in the legal landscape for decades (in November 2020 there were 2,036 sole practitioners in England and Wales, making up 20 per cent of firms).  Then the introduction of the SRA Standards and Regulations a little over a year ago paved the way for solicitors to go freelance. And now, the pandemic has triggered a swathe of solicitors to leave private practice and set up on their own, while others are undoubtedly considering taking that step.  Informal mentors can prove crucial to lawyers going solo as freelancers or as sole practitioners; and particularly to those who may be weighing up the risks and benefits of so doing, and may not have the access within their own firm to appropriate informal mentoring.  “Go to your own people, your own type of people”, advises Sophie Khan, solicitor-director of Sophie Khan & Co. For those setting up on their own, she says: “Informal mentoring comes from your own community –...