Contrary to what you might hear from folks who rarely — if ever — venture into the court room, advocacy is a skill constantly refined but never perfected.

That’s not just my view — though I firmly subscribe to it.

It’s also the considered opinion of Chief Justice John Doyle AC of the South Australian Supreme Court.

It’s interesting, reassuring and refreshing to hear him say even those whose sole career is appearing as advocates need to improve, and need to spend a lot of time at it.

I reckon that lends weight to our argument it takes at least a couple of years for any new practitioner to get up to speed in court.