Batts, R. L. (Robert Lynn), 1864-1935

Robert Lynn Batts (1864-1935) was born on November 1, 1864 in Bastrop, Texas. In 1886, he received an LL.B. from University of Texas and went into private practice from 1886-1891. From 1891-1893, he was an assistant state attorney general of Texas and then a law professor at the University of Texas in Austin from 1893 to 1900. After returning to private practice from 1900-1917, Batts was nominated by President Woodrow Wilson to be a federal judge to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 17, 1917. Batts resigned this position in 1919 and that year became general counsel to Gulf Oil. Robert Lynn Batts died on May 19, 1935.

Robert Lynn Batts was born in Bastrop, Texas, in 1864. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and graduated with a law degree in 1886. He practiced law in Bastrop, where he lived with his wife and three children, until he joined the Texas attorney general's office in 1892. Batts then taught law at the University of Texas from 1893 to 1901, when he returned to private practice. He served at Texas counsel, special assistant attorney general of the United States (1914), judge of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (1917), and general counsel for the Gulf Petroleum Company (1919-1923). Batts was a member of the Board of Regents of the University of Texas, and acted as chairman for three years. He also authored several legal texts. He died in 1935. Batts Hall at the University of Texas at Austin is named for him.