Halliburton General Counsel Robb Voyles is still more than two years away from retirement, but he has already picked his successor: Baker Botts litigation partner Van Beckwith.
Voyles is being given the title chief legal officer, to go along with his duties as executive vice president and corporate secretary.
Beckwith, who has been a trial lawyer at Baker Botts in Dallas for three decades, will relocate to Houston and will start the new position on Jan. 1.
This is actually the second time that Voyles has hired Beckwith.
“I hired Van right out of law school to come to Baker Botts,” he said in an exclusive interview with The Texas Lawbook on Tuesday. “Van basically followed my career at Baker Botts. He is an outstanding lawyer and a good guy.”
“Our CEO has gotten to know Van on a personal basis and has great confidence in him,” he said. “Van has done some work for Halliburton, but not a lot.”
Voyles, who also holds the titles of corporate secretary and executive vice president, does not have to retire until he turns 65, which is more than two years away.
“The plan is that Van will transition to my position over time,” he said. “It is good to know that I am handing the keys over to someone I know will do a great job.”
A graduate of the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, Beckwith has three decades of experience as a trial lawyer at Baker Botts.
“This is an exciting challenge,” Beckwith, who has been the head of litigation at Baker Botts for the past few years, told The Texas Lawbook. “It is a rare opportunity that an outside trial lawyer gets to step in as general counsel of a Fortune 100 company.”
Beckwith, who is 54, said he has represented Halliburton in securities litigation matters and handled an internal investigation for the company.
“The hardest part is leaving Baker Botts and losing the relationship I’ve had with some of my clients for 20 years,” he said. “I will miss standing up in court and trying cases.”
Halliburton also promoted Jeffrey Spalding as the company’s deputy general counsel earlier this year. Spalding will continue to report to Voyles and the board of directors.
Meanwhile, Baker Botts has litigation partners Danny David of Houston and Bridget Moore of Washington, D.C. are replacing Beckwith as the firm’s litigation co-chairs.
“This is a great position for a trial lawyer,” Voyles said. “As a trial lawyer, you get to know a lot of different businesses and different kinds of law – securities, contracts, labor and employment, intellectual property.”
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Lawbook gave Voyles the 2019 General Counsel of the Year Award for a Large Legal Department. You can read the full profile here: https://texaslawbook.net/halliburton-gc-robb-voyles-gc-of-the-year-for-a-large-legal-department/.