Dan Webb – Attorney

Daniel K. Webb is an American lawyer and public official. As a former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, he was the top federal law enforcement official in the city of Chicago on behalf of the United States Department of Justice and previously served as the Special Counsel in the Iran-Contra affair. Webb grew up in Forgottonia’s Bushnell and graduated from Western Illinois University in Macomb. Webb attended Loyola University Chicago School of Law, receiving a J.D. in 1970.

Webb has spent his entire professional life as a courtroom trial attorney and litigator. From his position as the U.S. attorney to chairman of the international law firm of Winston & Strawn, he has tried more than 100 jury cases and 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 and successfully prosecuted 76 corrupt judges, police officers, court clerks, and lawyers. Webb received national attention for his work as lead trial counsel for General Electric, successfully defending it against criminal price-fixing allegations. He represented Microsoft Corporation in its antitrust litigation and Philip Morris in its tobacco-related court case. Webb also served as lead defense counsel in the six-month jury trial of former Illinois Governor George Ryan. Most recently Webb was appointed special prosecutor, in the Jussie Smollett hate crime hoax case.

According to Webb himself, it is his small town upbringing in the heart of Forgottonia that has facilitated so much of his success. “Being a courtroom trial lawyer requires simple, straightforward communication,” he has said. “Growing up in Bushnell and working at Vaughn Hammer Factory (now Marshalltown) gave me the ability to talk to folk. Going to Western, where I experienced diversity and expanded my horizons, was a great learning exercise that has served me well throughout my life and career.”