Hayne would do no such thing, sitting there grumpily and defiantly ignoring calls for a carefully staged event.

It was a refreshing change to see someone acting in a quiet, respectful but no-nonsense way without any concession to the pretensions of modern life. In other words, to act judicially.

When Hayne was on the High Court he was regarded as a very conservative but very fair judge who, when it came to individual human rights, would often side with the liberal section of the court.

He was and remains a rigorous and independent mind that in today’s hyper-partisan and polemic world seems both quaint and yet quite radical.

But perhaps the real star of the royal commission was the senior counsel assisting, the lead barrister, Rowena Orr, QC, who was relentless in her questioning of some of corporate Australia’s most powerful players.

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In the witness box, Commonwealth Bank chair Catherine Livingstone  was strident and self-righteous. Orr would have none of it, dealing only with facts.

National Australia Bank chairman Ken Henry was dismissive until he became antagonistic and shrill. Orr and her team started pushing over the dominoes at AMP until its chair Catherine Brenner was forced to resign.

Orr was at all times perfectly composed and yet totally uncompromising. She was simply asking questions and demanding answers in her search for the truth.

The royal commission has seen a historic investigation into the smug and corrupt elements of the banking and financial industry. And it took Hayne, Orr and a team of lawyers using nothing more than their intelligence and a dogged determination to discover the truth to do it.

Lawyers, at their best, like Hayne and Orr, value and honour traditions like the rule of law, equity and human rights. Even Dickens and Shakespeare would agree.

Duncan Fine is a lawyer and columnist for The Age.