ROBERT F. WATSON

Personal-Educational
Mr. Watson was born in Houston, Texas, on January 9, 1936.  He graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1957 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree.  He attended Vanderbilt College of Law and graduated from the University of Denver College of Law in 1959 with a Doctor of Jurisprudence Degree.

Professional
Mr. Watson served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Alfred A. Arraj, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court, Colorado from 1960 to 1961.  He became an enforcement attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission in the Denver Regional Office in 1962.  He became Chief Enforcement Attorney for what was then the Fort Worth Regional Office in 1967, Assistant Regional Administrator in 1969, and Regional Administrator in 1972.  Mr. Watson joined the firm in 1975.
Mr. Watson is currently a shareholder of Law, Snakard & Gambill, P.C. He was of counsel to the firm from 1998-2005, and a shareholder prior to becoming of counsel. Also, between 1998-2005, Mr. Watson served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and a director of the First Command Group, which serves the banking, insurance and investment needs of middle income Americans. He is involved primarily in securities and corporate law and related litigation. While with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Watson investigated and prosecuted numerous significant cases, including the Sharpstown case which was, at the time, one of the most important cases ever brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission in Texas.  Since leaving the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Watson has been retained by the City of Fort Worth as special counsel for the Blue Ribbon Commission investigating the Fort Worth Police Department and by the State of Arizona to investigate and prosecute a $57 million fraud case in which thousands of Arizona residents had been defrauded and which resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of the principal perpetrator. Mr. Watson has also represented numerous public and private companies in connection with securities offerings, mergers, and acquisitions and various brokerage firms, accounting firms, law firms, and individuals in connection with civil and criminal investigations and litigation.
Mr. Watson has authored numerous published materials relating to such diverse topics as federal and state regulation of the sale of oil and gas interests, accountants, attorneys' and directors' liability under federal and state law, small business financing, proxy statements, periodic filings and reports to shareholders, tender offers, mergers and acquisitions, special problems of general and limited partnerships, insider trading, and other topics. Mr. Watson has been a member of the Planning Committee for the Annual Conference of Securities Regulation sponsored by the University of Texas at Austin School of Law from 1974 until 2002, and from 2006 to the present and has been a frequent speaker at that conference. Mr. Watson has been a speaker at numerous other conferences and seminars relating to corporate law, securities law, and litigation on both the local and national level.
Mr. Watson is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Colorado Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the Bar Association - Fifth Circuit and Tarrant County Bar Association.  He is a member of the Securities Litigation Committee of the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association. He is a member of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association and of the Federal Regulation of Securities Committee of the Section. He is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, and a charter member of the Tarrant County Bar Foundation. 

Service to Community
Mr. Watson has worked as a volunteer for many civic and charitable organizations and has served as President of the Board of Directors of the Lena Pope Home, as President of the Board of Trustees of Trinity Valley School, as an elder and President of the Board of Trustees of St. Stephen Presbyterian Church, and as a member of the Fort Worth Crime Commission.

Mr. Watson can be reached directly at (817) 878-6374, or via e-mail at bwatson@lawsnakard.com