US: Latham & Watkins Chair resigns, admits to lewd messages

The head of the world’s first US$3 billion law firm has quit as of March 20, 2018, after admitting to “communications of a sexual nature” with a woman outside the firm.

Bill Voge, the managing partner and chair of US legal giant Latham & Watkins, stood down after admitting behavior not “befitting the leader of the firm.”

Energy partner Voge was based in Latham’s New York City office until 2014 when he was elected to lead the firm. In a statement Latham said that Voge has tendered his resignation after “making a series of voluntary disclosures to the firm’s executive committee relating to his personal conduct.”

“Mr. Voge’s conduct involved the exchange of communications of a sexual nature with a woman whom he has never met in person and who had no connection to the firm,” the statement said.

The statement said that Voge’s conduct “while not unlawful” was “not befitting the leader of the firm.”

Voge said in a statement, “It is with great sorrow that I step down as chair and managing partner of Latham & Watkins. I made a personal mistake for which I bear considerable fault and humiliation. I deeply regret my lapse of judgment and I am sorry for the distress and embarrassment I have caused my family, friends, and colleagues.”

Full Content: City AM

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