Below is a summary of activities of this section from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. While past activity is no guarantee of future activity, it may give a idea of what to expect this year.
Section Stats
Newsletters
Issues: 5
CLE
Live Programs: 2
Discussions
Posts: 154
Legislation
Bills Reviewed: 68
Continuing Legal Education
Section members receive discounts on section-sponsored CLE programs. During the 2024–25 bar year, the Section sponsored the following programs:
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Sponsor LIVE WEB - Efficient & Effective Use of Artificial Intelligence for Meaningful Witness Preparation (02/14/2025)
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Sponsor LIVE - ISBA Allerton Conference 2025: Generative Artificial Intelligence - Fact or Fiction: Transforming the Legal Practice (04/02/2025 to 04/04/2025)
ISBA Central Discussions
ISBA Central communities allows section members to pose questions, answer questions, and share information with fellow section members. Members of the section get free access to the section’s community. Joining any section also grants you access to the Transactional and Litigation communities. Below are the total number of discussion posts during the 2024–25 bar year.
Civil Practice and Procedure
- Community members: 1,905
- Total discussion posts: 154
Transactional
- Community members: 24,715
- Total discussion posts: 406
Litigation
- Community members: 24,710
- Total discussion posts: 1,251
Legislation
The Section Council reviewed 68 bills that may affect their members’ practice area. Highlights of the most recent legislative session include:
- House Bill 3359 amends the Jury Act to increase the number of petit jurors that may be drawn to serve from 14 up to and including 16 if alternate jurors are required. Amends the Code of Civil Procedure to allow the court to impanel up to and including 4 alternative jurors instead of 1 or 2.
- Senate Bill 328 amends the Code of Civil Procedure to provide that, in addition to those acts already codified in the statute, acts submitting to the general jurisdiction of Illinois courts also include: (1) a corporation having its principal place of business in Illinois; or (2) a foreign business corporation that has consented to general jurisdiction in this State in accordance with the Business Corporation Act of 1983 but only if (i) the action alleges injury or illness resulting from exposure to a substance defined as toxic under the Uniform Hazardous Substances Act of Illinois whether the cause of action arises within or without the State and (ii) as long as jurisdiction is proper as to one or more named co-defendants under the Code of Civil Procedure.
- Senate Bill 1181 amends the Citizen Participation Act to declare that it is the public policy of Illinois that press opining, reporting, or investigating matters of public concern is participating and communicating with the government and that the Act should be construed broadly in striking the balance of rights that the Act seeks to protect. Includes freedom of the press in the applicability provisions of the Act.