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Henry Cecil's book Brothers in Law describes in comic terms the early career of Roger Thearlby, a barrister in the early nineteen thirties. Cecil was a High Court judge who wrote novels during the long holiday of blessed memory.
There is description of a crusty old judge roasting the newly robed Thearlby that almost exactly reproduces the behaviour mentioned in this article. It's worth reading because of the profound inhumanity and injustice on the part of the judge that is portrayed by the incident.
Plus ca change.
I don't subscribe to the rather spartan concept that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But I will say this: the world is full of bullies and tyrants who seek to abuse their superior power to gain their way over the weak; and the lawyers job is to seek to redress that Imbalance. This requires courage and determination. Sometimes these are qualities that are only developed under pressure.