Latham & Watkins LLP, the country’s highest-grossing law firm, said Tuesday that its chairman, William Voge, is relinquishing his position and retiring from the firm after engaging in sexual communications with a woman unaffiliated with Latham.
Latham’s executive committee said the resignation follows a series of voluntary disclosures by Mr. Voge related to “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 committee said that Mr. Voge, who is based in London, “engaged in subsequent conduct relating to this matter that, while not unlawful, the executive committee concluded was not befitting the leader of the firm.” The contents of the communications, including the identity of the woman, weren’t revealed.
The announcement follows a nationwide reckoning over sexual harassment and alleged misconduct by powerful men, and is one of the first instances to implicate the staid world of corporate law firms.
In his own statement, Mr. Voge said Tuesday that “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.”
The 61-year-old Mr. Voge, known as Bill, took over as head of Latham in 2015 after a 20-year tenure by Robert Dell. The firm, founded in Los Angeles in 1934, grew under Mr. Dell’s leadership into a global powerhouse in litigation and deal work with more than 2,600 lawyers in 14 countries.
It became the highest-grossing U.S. law firm in 2014 and last year exceeded $3 billion in global revenue, the first firm to do so, according to legal trade publication the American Lawyer.
Mr. Voge, a project finance lawyer, served in several leadership roles before being elected managing partner and global chair of the firm in 2014. He beat out several other candidates in the election to replace Mr. Dell, including finance partner Jeffrey Greenberg in a final runoff.
Mr. Voge told the American Lawyer in 2014 that he planned to be candid and a quick decision-maker as firm leader. “I like to keep things moving,” he told the publication. “As I look at some of the great global service firms and some that are doing less well, the difference often comes down to a loss of ambition, and an increase in complacency. We can’t afford to be complacent.”
Former Latham employees and others in the legal industry expressed shock Tuesday, describing Mr. Voge as a well-respected lawyer who has made diversity and the advancement of women a hallmark of his leadership tenure.
After serving in the Army, he attended college at California State University, Fresno and received law and business degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. He joined Latham after graduating from Berkeley in 1983.
Law360 was first to report on Mr. Voge’s resignation Tuesday.