My mentor, Charles R. Vaughan, was the chair of the very first ITLA Institute that took place on a Saturday in December of 1965. The one-day seminar took place in the moot courtroom of Indiana University School of Law at Bloomington. The topic at this first annual seminar was “Effective Handling of Personal Injury Litigation.” Some of the speakers included Howard S. Young, Jr., Earl C. Townsend, Jr., Hansford C. Mann, and John Jennings. The registration fee at this first annual seminar was ten dollars.
In the nearly five decades since, the institute has grown from these humble beginnings to a fantastic two-day event. The 2013 institute on Nov. 7-8 at the Indiana Convention Center featured more than twenty speakers, including nationally known speakers such as Patrick Malone, Leo Boyle, and a guy from Texas named “Scrappy.”
This year, with my good friend and colleague Jay Hoffman, I had the honor of co-chairing the institute, just like my mentor did forty-eight years ago. We had more than 300 member lawyers in attendance for presentations on ways to invest in your practice. Topics included Compassion Fatigue, Cross Examination, Bringing Excitement to the Courtroom, and more.
Thanks to everyone who attended and to all of our great speakers. See you next year!