Robert Lynn Batts (November 1, 1864 – May 19, 1935), known professionally as R. L. Batts, was a

United States circuit judge In the United States, a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. Often called "Article III judges", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. Su ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is one of the 13 United States courts of appeals. It has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: ...

Education and career

Born in Bastrop,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, Batts received a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Texas at Austin, a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas. According to Texas Law’s American Bar ...

in 1886 and entered private practice in Bastrop from 1886 to 1891. He was an assistant state attorney general of Texas from 1891 to 1893. He was then a professor of law at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

from 1893 to 1900. He was in private practice in

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, Texas from 1900 to 1917.

Federal judicial service

Batts was nominated by President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

on January 17, 1917, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Andrew Phelps McCormick. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on February 5, 1917, and received his commission the same day. Batts resigned on August 22, 1919.

Post judicial service and death

Batts was general counsel to

Gulf Oil Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the Seven Sisters (oil companies), Seven Sisters oil companies. ...

from 1919 to 1923. He returned to private practice in Austin from 1924 to 1935. He died on May 19, 1935.

Selected published work

* (print book); (print book); (online); (online) * (print book); (print book); (online); (online)

Bibliography

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Batts, R. L. 1864 births 1935 deaths Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States court of appeals judges appointed by Woodrow Wilson People from Bastrop, Texas