2007 Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters

Alumni Recognition

In March 2007, the Western Illinois University Board of Trustees approved a recommendation to name Dan Webb as the recipient of the 2007 Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters that was awarded at the University's May 12, 2007 Commencement Exercises.

Webb is a partner in the litigation department, a firm chairman and a member of the Executive Committee for Winston and Strawn, LLC in Chicago. The Bushnell (IL) native, who studied history at Western, received Western's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1992 and is a former member of the WIU Board of Trustees. He has also established the Keith Webb Memorial Scholarship at Western in memory of his father.

Dan WebbDuring his career, Webb has tried more than 100 jury cases, including numerous successful commercial and white-collar criminal trials. Webb joined Winston & Strawn in 1985 as a partner, after serving as the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Webb, who has spent his entire professional life as a courtroom trial attorney and litigator, received international attention for his successful prosecution of retired Admiral John Poindexter in the Iran-Contra affair. As the U.S. attorney in Chicago, he spearheaded the "Operation Greylord" investigations into judicial corruption in Cook County. Webb received national attention for his work as lead trial counsel for General Electric, successfully defending it against criminal price-fixing allegations, as well as for his representations of Microsoft Corporation in its antitrust litigation and Philip Morris in its tobacco-related litigation. In addition, Webb represented the New York Stock Exchange in connection with an internal investigation over compensation to the former Chairman Richard Grasso and currently represents the NYSE in subsequent litigation. Most recently, Webb served as lead defense counsel in the six-month jury trial of former Gov. George Ryan on public corruption charges, including racketeering, mail fraud and income tax fraud.

Webb has been ranked as the number one litigator in the United States in Euromoney's Guide to the World's Leading Litigation Lawyers and as the number one white-collar criminal defense attorney by Corporate Crime Reporter. In 2006 he was ranked as one of the top 25 litigation experts in the world by the Guide to the World's Leading Lawyers and has been selected as one of the "100 Most Influential Lawyers in America" by the National Law Journal.

Webb, who received his juris doctorate from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1970, is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has authored numerous articles for professional publications and is a member of numerous public boards and bar associations.