When one of Chief Justice Helen Murrell's fellow judges was forced into quarantine by COVID-19, she sent them a care package containing enough food for six meals.
This was the sort of compassion criminals came to know well during her tenure as the ACT's top judge, with her commitment to enhancing opportunities for rehabilitation lauded on Friday at a ceremony to mark her retirement.
"Judging is the most rewarding way in which to practice the law," Chief Justice Murrell said in the ACT Supreme Court as the curtain came down on her 25-year judicial career.
It is also a particularly tough gig when you are at the helm of a court, as the lengthy list of issues that confronted her in 2013 makes clear.
When she moved to Canberra late that year to take on the role as chief justice, she found an inadequate courthouse and governance that was, as she put it, "idiosyncratic" at best and "absent" at worst.
Chief Justice Murrell went on to tackle these issues, and many others, in what ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury described on Friday as a "formidable" manner.
She also earned praise from Justice Michael Elkaim, who said he had occasionally acted in her job since the departure of Justice John Burns, "who was cold, so he went to the Northern Territory".
"I thought it would be easy, but it isn't," Justice Elkaim said.
"There are endless meetings. Each meeting requires learning new acronyms.
"I may never have been late for work, but I have never arrived before the Chief Justice."
Justice Elkaim lauded Chief Justice Murrell for overhauling case management systems and transforming a court once criticised for lengthy delays into "a well-oiled bastion of legal efficiency".
He also commended her commitment to rehabilitating offenders through initiatives like the drug and alcohol sentencing list, and thanked her for her friendship.
Chief Justice Murrell's camaraderie with her fellow judges was a common topic of Friday's speeches, with ACT Law Society president Elizabeth Carroll revealing the story about the care package that contained fresh pasta.
ACT Bar Association president Andrew Muller raised Chief Justice Murrell's keen interest in yoga, and how she had gone so far as to introduce classes for judges.
"I understand, in some cases, the judicial downward dog was a sight to behold," he told the court.
Mr Muller also noted the less than enthusiastic response from internet commentators to Chief Justice Murrell's 2013 appointment, quoting remarks from someone going by the username LSWCHP.
"It is what it is, and we have to live with it," that person wrote online.
"She looks like a nice person, but personally I'd prefer the Chief Justice to look like Judge Dredd."
MORE COURT AND CRIME NEWS
- Furious prisoner denies killing girlfriend, cuts court video link
- Optimism for ex-drug 'kingpin' lost after chicken coop Tasering
- Murder-accused cop tells court man tried to grab gun
- Sushi chain faces new allegations of worker exploitation
Chief Justice Murrell lacked a physical resemblance to not only the fictional character, but to all others who had previously occupied the territory's top judicial office.
She was the ACT's first ever female chief justice and, earlier in her 44-year career as a lawyer, just the ninth woman to be appointed senior counsel in her home state of NSW.
Her mentorship of young women was raised repeatedly during Friday's ceremony, with the Chief Justice herself saying one of the most satisfying changes to occur during her time in the job had been the increase in the seniority and number of female barristers.
It is therefore fitting that, as she leaves the court to spend more time with the grandchildren who know her not as a judge, but as "Henny", she will pass the torch to another woman.
Justice Lucy McCallum, who most recently worked on the NSW Court of Appeal, will be sworn in as Chief Justice Murrell's successor next Tuesday.
