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While the full circumstances surrounding William Voge's abrupt departure from the chairman position at Latham & Watkins remain murky, news reports about the situation have thrust a spotlight on a Christian men's nonprofit organization known as the New Canaan Society.

The faith-based group has chapters throughout the United States and a membership that appears to include men who have reached the top of their professions in such fields as finance, technology, consulting and law. This includes former and current partners in Big Law.

Latham announced on Tuesday that Voge had resigned from his role as firm chairman and would retire from Latham's partnership in light of conduct that involved “communications of a sexual nature” with an unnamed woman who had no connection to the firm or its clients. A former project finance partner, Voge was elected in 2014 to replace Latham's former longtime leader, Robert Dell.

According to a Law360 report, Voge and the woman initially came into contact with one another through Voge's participation in the New Canaan Society (NCS), where he sat on the national board of directors. Voge reached out to the woman to try to arrange a “Christian reconciliation” between her and one of Voge's acquaintances through NCS, the report said. Voge reportedly stepped down from the NCS board in November.

As of Tuesday, when Latham announced Voge's resignation from the firm, he was no longer listed on the NCS website as part of its board of directors. He was, however, described as a board member as recently as September in connection with an event hosted by the NCS chapter in Manhattan.

The group's president and CEO, James Anderson, did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and a few others connected to the group also did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday and Friday.

To be sure, there is no suggestion that NCS, an organization with a Manhattan headquarters and some 60 local chapters in the United States, engaged in any wrongdoing or played a direct role in the situation involving Voge.

Still, with the reports in the legal press drawing a connection between Voge and the nonprofit, the group has been thrust into the story surrounding the former Latham chair's resignation.

NCS started in 1995, when founder James Lane began hosting Bible study and fellowship sessions at his home in New Canaan, Connecticut. Lane's biography on the NCS website describes him as a former Goldman Sachs general partner who helped start the investment bank's private equity business. He later became chairman and CEO of SG Capital Partners, a private equity shop affiliated with French bank Société Générale SA.

Lane started NCS, which expanded beyond its early meetings and became a full-fledged nonprofit in 2001, after recognizing that, despite success in the business world, “His life was out of control, and he was lacking meaningful friendship with other men,” NCS says on its website. Lane did not immediately respond on Friday to an email seeking comment.

The aim of the all-male group, according to its website, is to provide a safe space for members to come together to discuss their shortcomings, their shared Christian faith and challenges they're facing, in an open setting surrounded by other like-minded men looking for meaningful friendships.

“We strive to encourage men to be the men that God has designed them to be, and our goal is to equip and encourage each other to become better husbands, fathers, sons, employees and friends,” the NCS website said.

NCS also describes itself as an inclusive group that doesn't collect dues and doesn't have any closed subgroups or “secret handshakes.” In a section of its website describing what the group is not, NCS said it is not affiliated with a specific church and it is not a Bible study, “although NCSers do read the Bible regularly;” it is not a rehabilitation program or support group, although it does follow some of the principles laid out by Alcoholics Anonymous; it is not a drinking or cigar club, “but there's never any shortage of quality cigars and the accompanying conversations.”

The leadership of NCS is largely drawn from what the group calls “the marketplace,” which appears to refer to a professional class of men. In addition to the founder, Lane, current members of the national board of directors include several men who have worked in finance, consulting and prominent corporations.

The group's president and CEO, Anderson, has a background in selling high-end real estate and, before that, served as a director of operations for Lakeshore Entertainment Group, a Hollywood film production company. John Townsend, a former NCS national board member, is a well-known career coach and self-help author. Chris Broussard, a sports analyst for Fox Sports Network who previously wrote an online and magazine column on the National Basketball Association for ESPN, is also a former national board member. Frank Vizcarra, who was a longtime executive for McDonald's Corp. before retiring in 2006, is a current member of the NCS national board. And John Brandon, who was vice president of the Americas and Asia-Pacific at Apple Inc. before retiring in 2015, also had ties to the group.

Voge, who held a position on the NCS national board until recently, was not the only prominent lawyer involved in the nonprofit organization. At least a handful of lawyers are connected to the society and have held national or local chapter leadership roles that are publicly visible on the group's website.

Among them is Paul Michalski, a former Cravath, Swaine & Moore corporate lawyer who spent more than 20 years at the firm and now heads NCS's founding chapter in New Canaan, Connecticut. Michalski, who now runs a business called Integrous LLC that provides “integrity advice” to organizations and leaders, didn't respond to requests for comment.

The NCS chapter in Washington, D.C., also has at least one prominent member from the world of Big Law in Winston & Strawn litigation partner Steffen Johnson. He serves as vice chairman of Winston's national appellate and critical motions practice, but has also held a position as NCS board secretary. The NCS chapter in Washington also lists Winston's D.C. office as its regular meeting spot. Johnson wasn't immediately available for comment on Friday.

NCS also names Michael Voytek of Bridgeport, Connecticut-based Voytek Law as the national organization's outside counsel. Voytek, who didn't immediately respond to a phone message on Friday, started his current firm after stints as a Wall Street lawyer at a few well-known firms. He started his legal career at the now-defunct Lord, Day & Lord, focused on mergers and acquisitions. Later, he worked briefly at Goodwin Procter and then spent about a decade as of counsel at Paul Hastings before moving to Goodkind Labaton Rudoff & Sucharow, a predecessor to plaintiffs-side securities class action firm Labaton Sucharow, according to his current firm biography.