FLYING SOLO

'Sole survivors' (see [2001] Gazette, 11 October, 32) paints the usual, and accurate picture, of the difficulties many sole practitioners face.

However, this is not the case for all.

Those of us in commercial niche markets (mine being competition/IT-IP/commercial law) have found the sole practice business model both client friendly and profitable, particularly where one works from home largely by e-mail with no staff, with overheads perhaps as little as 10% of billings.

Indeed, I was gratified to see only 16 firms in the UK, in a recent 'top 100' survey, with average profits per partner purportedly higher than my own.

The moral may be to become an expert in a commercial growth area and, above all, then go on to enjoy the work and its intellectual challenges.

Some sole practitioners, and I am by no means alone in this, think it is a wonderful way to practise.

Imagine no staff, no rent to pay, no partners, no internal meetings, just clients and the law.

Susan Singleton, Singletons, Pinner, Middlesex