New Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice P. Scott Neville, Jr., grew up in the Chicago Bronzeville neighborhood under challenging circumstances. As recounted in “Ready To Serve,” the Illinois Bar Journal’s December profile of the chief justice, those years “were challenging for his family and especially his mother, a schoolteacher,” Chief Justice Neville says. “But I maintain that those very difficult times made me the kind of person I am. I often say I grew up on the rough side of the mountain,” he says. “But it is pressure that turns coal into diamonds.

“Lawyers often regard procedural history as a formality and as something to endure, like the seat-belt announcement on an airplane,” writes Justice Michael B.

The Illinois Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will begin including summaries with opinion releases. This is to give the public a clear explanation of the rulings in plain language. The Court began including the summaries with today’s batch of opinions with the summaries available on the opinions page under Summaries/Notes. Here are the November 20 opinions and summaries: