A Practice Note discussing the role of opinion letters in Illinois commercial real estate loans. Intended for both borrower's counsel and lender's counsel, this Note offers guidance in drafting, reviewing, and negotiating real estate opinion letters in Illinois. This Note also describes a typical set of legal opinions delivered by Illinois counsel in a commercial real estate loan transaction secured by real estate in Illinois and discusses common assumptions, qualifications, and exceptions typically included in the opinion letter by the law firm rendering the legal opinion.