Solicitor advocacy

(Asked from a family law perspective)

Its not conventional for a solicitor to appear as advocate in final hearings, and to a lesser extent, in interims. There are some Solis who insist on running everything themselves, and the impression I hear is that this always raises eyebrows for going against the status quo, even if those advocates achieve a good outcome.

I have appeared as advocate and I feel that the clients appreciate having a single person be their nexus to the law, however I worry that this will turn the bench and my colleagues off side.

Can any practitioners share their thoughts about solicitor advocacy?