For the second consecutive year, the Illinois Bar Journal reached out to leaders from several ISBA sections and asked if they’d be willing to reflect on highlights in their areas from the past year and provide a few thoughts on anticipated developments in 2024. Contributors were free to deviate from this theme, so long as their content conveyed a looking-back/looking-forward approach. Read on for contributions from six sections: Civil Practice and Procedure, Criminal Justice, Family Law, Real Estate, Trusts and Estates, and the Young Lawyers Division (YLD).

 In his November Illinois Bar Journal article, “Welcome the Stranger,” Administrative Law Judge Junaid “J” Afeef, discusses whether it is morally and ethically imperative to be more inclusive. Inclusiveness, Judge Afeef writes, contributes to increased innovation, improved problem-solving, and expanded access to a broader range of ideas and perspectives. A more diverse network encourages a richer, more nuanced understanding of the global marketplace, enhancing one’s capacity to address multifaceted challenges effectively.

 For the Illinois Bar Journal’s November cover story, “Writing Matters,” the IBJ reached out to members of the bench and bar and law-school writing professors, and asked them to reflect on where good and bad writing begin, and why good writing is worth the practice. They had plenty to say, beginning with their observation that graduating from law school does not mean, ipso facto, you have become a good writer.

 As federal and Illinois state courts seem to disagree as to whether in personam deficiency judgments are mandatory or discretionary under the Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Law (IMFL), what’s a client to do? In his October Illinois Bar Journal article, “The Illinois-Federal Foreclosure Split,” Morgan I. Marcus writes that there are practical considerations for creditors and borrowers to keep in mind.