1969 

Task force on teaching of trial advocacy skills composed from members of the American Bar Association Section of Judicial Administration, the American College of Trial Lawyers, and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America is established.

1970 

Task force recommends the creation of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA).

1971 

NITA is incorporated as a not-for-profit organization under the laws of the District of Columbia on June 11.

1971-1973 

Leo Levin serves as NITA’s first director.

1972 

First National Trial Skills program is held June 25 – July 21 at the University of Colorado in Boulder. There are 100 attendees at this session that lasts four weeks.

1973 - 1976 

Robert E. Keeton serves as NITA’s director.

1975

Development of first regional programs in the Southeast and Northeast regions of the United States.

1975 

Irving Younger lectures on the Ten Commandments of Cross-Examination on Flagstaff Mountain in Boulder, Colorado.

1976 

Firms like Fulbright and Jaworski, King & Spalding, and Shearman and Sterling take part in some of NITA’s first in-house programs.

NITA administration grows to a staff of four and assumes accounting and fiscal responsibilities from the ABA.

1976-1979 

Kenneth S. Broun serves as NITA’s director

1977 

Development of the NITA Advocacy Club, NITA’s first organized effort in fund development. Today it is known as the NITA Advocates Society.

First NITA teacher training program is held at Harvard University.



1978 

For the first time, NITA case files are made available to law schools. Namely, Potter v. Shrackle, Dixon v. Providential Life, and State v. Burns.

1979 

Administration headquarters move from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to St. Paul, Minnesota.

1979-1994 

James H. Seckinger serves as NITA’s director

1980 

NITA video series is made available to the public, not just for use in NITA programs.

First Advanced Advocacy program is held in Boulder, Colorado.

1981 

The first negotiations program is offered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

NITA’s first co-sponsored program held in conjunction with the Hawaiian Bar Association. Programs with many local and state associations continue today.

1983 

NITA issues its first Public Advocate Scholarship to a Chicago attorney practicing in civil rights law.

1985 

First In-House Deposition Skills program offered at Mayer Brown & Platt in Chicago.

1986 

NITA, the United States South Africa Leadership Exchange Program, and the Legal Education Center of the Black Lawyers Association of South Africa hold the first NITA program of its kind in Johannesburg, South Africa.

First trade book, Practical Guide to Federal Evidence, is published. Today, the book is in its eighth edition.

1987 

First public Deposition Skills program is held in Denver, Colorado, on December 10-12 and still occurs annually

1988 

Administration headquarters move to South Bend, Indiana.

1990 

First Expert Witness program is held in Omaha, Nebraska.

1991 

First specialty program held with a focus on bankruptcy and litigation. Later programs expand to include tax court litigation and patent litigation.

Northwestern University School of Law and NITA co-sponsor conference on teaching advocacy, as featured in the 1991 issue of the Notre Dame Law Review (66 Notre Dame L. Rev. 687)

1993 

First Motions Practice program in Denver, Colorado.

1995 

NITA Board approves the Hon. Robert E. Keeton Award and The Robert E. Oliphant Award to be given to a NITA faculty member each year for outstanding service. The Hon. Prentice H. Marshall Faculty Award is also approved and awarded for the development of innovative teaching methods.

Lou Natali named the first Associate Director for International Programs

1994-1999 

Anthony J. Bocchino serves as NITA’s director

1999-present  

Laurence M. Rose begins service as NITA’s Director of Education. In 2002 he became the Executive Director and in 2006 he became NITA’s President & CEO

1994 

An agreement between NITA and Nottingham Trent University establishes NITA-UK. This agreement is no longer in existence.

1996 

First Women in the Courtroom program is offered in San Francisco.

NITA begins sponsoring the Tournament of Champions law school trial competition.

First program for child advocacy attorneys held in Chicago, Illinois.

1997 

First Death Penalty Trial program is offered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

1998 

First low-tuition program for minority lawyers held in Denver, Colorado.

Tribal Courts Project holds its first program on the Navajo reservation in Window Rock, Arizona, on November 2.

1998 

First Death Penalty Habeas program is offered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

2001 

NITA partners with LexisNexis® to provide NITA’s commentaries on Lexis.com.

First tuition-free program held for public service attorneys in Des Moines, Iowa.

NITA co-sponsored a Symposium on Advocacy in the Temple Law Review, Volume 74, Issue No. 1

2003 

NITA opens its Education Center in Louisville, Colorado.

The NITA Foundation is established.

Martindale-Hubbell® and NITA partner to offer NITA Designations to program participants.

2006 

Administration headquarters relocates to Louisville, Colorado.

2008

Japan's PSIM Consortium signs a three-year agreement with NITA. NITA will provide trainings, materials, and exchange of ideas to aid Japanese law schools in developing curriculum.