The Courts closed yesterday for Christmas.

I was in two separate call-overs, and got judgment from the Supreme Court in a reference case.

All remotely.

If you had even suggested to any of us this would be possible this time last year, we'd have gawped.

In a pandemic, we have managed to keep the criminal Courts open and running, without major outbreaks sweeping through the prisons or Courts.

We've managed, tentatively, to get the PI lists back open and running.

We've managed the same with the family lists.

We have managed to move to online platforms for all sorts of actions; running judicial reviews through a laptop is now normal.

Again: we would never have considered any of this possible twelve months ago.

Because the legal profession exists in a rolling, perpetual "Now", from case to case to case, we forget that we've basically moved an entire legal system online or in conditions of extreme caution and organisation on the hoof.

But we have.

Looked at in perspective of, "Compare to twelve months ago, and look at the challenges", it's been downright miraculous.

@CourtsServiceIE @TheBarofIreland and @LawSocIreland working together have achieved what should have been impossible, and have made sure justice was done.

That doesn't mean it's sunshine and roses. God help the devils, who aren't getting that vital experience. Incomes have *crashed*, in a truly apocalyptic manner that threatens the future in the profession of an awful lot of my colleagues. There are even more challenges to come.

We've got a lot more to do and a lot more to sort out to make sure that this beds in sustainably.

Some of it will, and should, never revert to the previous, now we know the alternatives work and work better than we thought they could.

Traipsing up to Dublin to sit around for callovers of a Monday, for example, should be a thing of the past now. The Circuits need to be revived and strengthened, and centralising pressures resisted. We should be sending more back out to Circuits, not less.

But those are for after Christmas.

Right here and now, I think we can look back on the law in this calendar year and say to ourselves and of ourselves: we did okay, lads.

We did okay.