The year 2011 saw the departure of an old face, the elevation of new faces and - for the first time in years - successful murder cases.
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Then, as if the year hadn't brought enough change, newly-crowned Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker suggested even more changes, including an end to more than seven decades of two-tiered tradition.
Revisiting the single-court concept - which was Labor Party policy in decades past, by the way - at the ceremonial sitting in Ms Walker's honour was a fitting finale to a seismic year.
But for all the jurisdictional ructions, maybe there has been a little more-than-usual peace on earth and goodwill to all lawyers this festive season.
More than one legal eagle described December's unveiling of ''the Blitz'' - and associated court listing reforms - as marked by unprecedented unity of purpose.
Canberra knows the drill; accused criminals wait years to stand trial in the territory's Supreme Court; delays plague civil cases; judges take years to finish reserved judgments.
But in 2011 the DPP, the Legal Aid Commission, the judges, bureaucrats, the Bar Association and the Law Society spent months thrashing out a plan to bust the backlog for good.
The result: two acting judges, more money for prosecutors and legal aid services, funding for court staff and a 12-week blitz on outstanding cases.
And the bench is rewriting the way it does business too, in the hopes of making sure we never again face a crisis. The worth of the strategy remains to be seen.
But consensus is rare in an adversarial system and a bit of harmony is worth noting.
Meanwhile the magistrates have more on their plates thanks to changes in their civil and criminal jurisdictions, as well as new laws forcing accused criminals to try for bail more times in the lower court.
The jurisdictional reforms, a bid to tackle the superior court's backlog, prompted the magistrates to tell the remuneration tribunal they were now worth as much as NSW District Court judges, about $70,000 more.
Their pleas fell on deaf ears, however, Director of Public Prosecutions Jon White's troops had a little more luck in their own pay push with the ACT Government.
The DPP handled more trials than ever before in 2010-11; two, however, stood out.
Teams led by veteran prosecutor Chris Todd and deputy director John Lundy each brought home murder convictions, breaking the territory's long-running drought.
The latter case, the jury trial of Charnwood shops stabber Rebecca Anne Massey, was also the last hoorah for respected Supreme Court Justice Malcolm Gray.
Justice Gray turned 70, the statutory age of retirement for a judge, in August, but not before he locked up Massey for 16 years, with at least 10 to serve.
Just one week earlier Justice Gray sent down Scott Alexander McDougall for two life sentences over a horrific double murder in Canberra's inner north.
McDougall can ask the Attorney-General for release after serving a decade - but both the Massey and McDougall verdicts are subject to appeal.
McDougall's case will be one of the last of its kind to go before a judge alone after Mr Corbell ended the right of accused killers and rapists to stand trial without a jury.
In Justice Gray's stead former chief magistrate John Burns was elevated to the Supreme Court bench, coming to the job with a reputation for efficiency. Already as a judge he's shown a disinclination to draw out straightforward matters.
Ms Walker, the newest face on the magistrates' bench, took Justice Burns' place and now faces the challenging prospect of steering the court through an era of unprecedented jurisdictional change.
For her first trick - with help from her fellow magistrates - she'll have to rework the busy A-list and the much-maligned case management system.
By the end of 2012 it will be a transformed bench.
The gap left by the Burns-Walker moves has been filled by civil and criminal barrister David Mossop, appointed days before Christmas.
Magistrates Grant Lalor and Maria Doogan, are set to leave the bench in 2012 after reaching the statutory retirement age of 65.
The hunt for their replacements will be foremost on the minds of many in the legal community.
