The Edmisten & Webb Law Firm is a general practice firm which represents a wide range of clients and legal/government affairs throughout the State of North Carolina and the United States.  It provides legal services in most areas of the law.

118 St. Mary's Street, Second Floor
Raleigh, North Carolina 27605
Telephone 919-831-8700
Facsimile 919-831-8749

 

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Woody Webb Sr.

Woody Webb Sr.

William Woodward Webb, better known to his friends, colleagues and clients as Woody Webb, was born on November 21, 1945 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Woody spent his formative years living in Washington, D.C.  He graduated from The Lawrenceville School in 1964 after which he attended Stanford University graduating in 1968.  From 1968 to 1971 Mr. Webb studied at the University of North Carolina School of Law in Chapel Hill earning his Juris Doctor degree in 1971. 

After a brief tenure as a trial lawyer in Durham, North Carolina, Woody joined the North Carolina Department of Justice rising over the next six years to the position of Special Deputy Attorney General.  During his time with the Attorney General’s Office Woody handled dozens of cases, both criminal and civil, in the State and Federal trial and appellate courts (including the United States Supreme Court).

In 1979 Woody was appointed Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina and the Chief of the Civil Division.  In this capacity he represented the interests of the United States in the federal courts of the Eastern District of North Carolina and in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  Although head of the Civil Division of the United States Attorney’s Office, he and his staff also handled criminal cases on behalf of the United States. 

Woody has been in private practice since 1982 and has represented a wide variety of clients in civil, criminal and administrative cases.  He was also heavily involved in government relations matters while a member of the Broughton, Wilkins and Webb Law Firm in Raleigh, North Carolina from 1982 to 1999.

From 1975 to 1977 Woody also served as a visiting assistant professor at North Carolina State University.  He has authored several articles for law reviews and continuing legal education seminars including “Practical Implications of RICO Cases”, “Practice and Procedure Under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure” and “Introduction to Federal Practice in North Carolina”.  Recently he has written articles on Identity Theft, Information Security Programs and Bankruptcy Declarations.

In the late 1980's and into the early 1990's Woody modified his civil and criminal practice to include representation of sports and entertainment client.  Among his early clients was the late Jim Valvano, former head basketball coach at North Carolina State University and later a broadcaster for ABC/ESPN.  Woody represented Coach Valvano both individually and through his corporation, JTV Enterprises, in contractual matters with the University, the television networks and other entities.  During this period Woody also represented other sports and entertainment figures including NFL players, a college and professional basketball coach, several professional tennis players and local television celebrities.

In 2000 Woody started to concentrate most of his practice on federal cases as a member of the bar of all the United States District Courts in North Carolina and Washington, D.C., the Court of Appeals for the Fourth and Sixth Circuits and the United States Supreme Court.  He is a member of the federal Criminal Justice Act panel.  He has also appeared twice before and is a member of the Cherokee Supreme Court, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and has been appointed a Temporary Administrative Law Judge by the North Carolina Office of Administrate Hearings. 

Woody has represented in federal court, among many other clients, the State of North Carolina (civil rights), a wide variety of business interests (securities violations, RICO and anti-trust), and individuals including State politicians (defamation, political corruption and white collar crime).  He also successfully litigated an early challenge to the involuntary commitment laws in North Carolina, enforcement of the “Persons with Disabilities Protection Act” and the seminal case to close down a “puppy mill” in Sanford, North Carolina on behalf of the California bases Animal Legal Defense Fund.

Woody has also been involved in employment law, principally representing North Carolina law enforcement officials in various personnel matters before The Office of Administrative Hearings and State courts.  He numbers among his clients in this regard several members of the State Highway Patrol.  In 1986 Woody was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Congress. He has been on the North Carolina Boxing Commission for the better part of ten years.  He is a former member of the Board of Visitors of Wake Forest University and is currently a member of the Board of Visitors of the North Carolina Children’s Hospital and the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.   He is a member of the American Law Institute and the Federal Bar Association.

He has been married to Mary Webb for forty two years and they have three children and eight grandchildren.

He has an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell.