January 28, 2020
In Memoriam: David N. Webster, Esq. ’55; PC trustee emeritus led esteemed career as lawyer in D.C.
David N. Webster, Esq. ’55, a PC trustee emeritus with a distinguished record of engagement with his alma mater, died on Jan. 28, 2020.
A prominent Washington, D.C.-area trial lawyer who practiced for more than 50 years, he served from 1997 to 2004 as a member of the College’s Board of Trustees and later was named trustee emeritus. His trustee service included membership on the Board Affairs and Student Affairs committees.
Mr. Webster established a scholarship fund in his name for PC students demonstrating financial need and academic merit. He was a former member of the Providence President’s Council and regularly participated in alumni events and programs, including reunions and phonathons. He received the National Alumni Association’s Faithful Friar Award, which recognizes alumni for extraordinary and long-time dedication to PC.
Mr. Webster conducted a broad range of civil and criminal trials in 16 states and the District of Columbia during his long legal career. Among many notable cases, he served as lead trial counsel for more than 1,000 flood victims of the Buffalo Creek, W. Va., mining disaster.
He was listed in Best Lawyers in America annually since its first edition in 1983. He practiced in multiple specialties, primarily commercial litigation, legal malpractice, personal injury, products liability, and white-collar criminal defense.
Mr. Webster was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 1958 and joined the law firm of Hogan & Hartson in 1959, where he remained until 1967. He was a founding partner in the law firm of Williams & Connolly until 1981, when he joined Nussbaum, Owen & Webster. In 1989, he joined Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered, where he practiced until 2009, when he joined Webster Book LLP.
He retired to Oxford, Md., where he enjoyed boating, entertaining family and friends, and socializing with members of the Oxford community.
He was a member of the bars of the District of Columbia and Maryland and served the D.C. Bar as chair of its Legal Ethics Committee, member of its board of directors, and president. He was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1982 and was a fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
He also served as adjunct professor of criminal law at Georgetown University Law Center and as an instructor in trial practice at The Catholic University Law School.
A Providence, R.I., native, Mr. Webster attended St. Paul’s Parish School and La Salle Academy before entering PC, where he majored in political science. He earned a juris doctor degree in 1958 from Georgetown University Law Center, graduating first in his class.
Mr. Webster was predeceased by his wife, Marguerite S. Owen, who died in 2017 and to whom he was married 40 years, and his daughter, Devlin, who died in 2016. He was the father of Steven T. Webster ’86. He also is survived by three other children, two daughters-in-law, two sisters, eight grandchildren, and nieces and nephews.
His funeral service was held at the Church of The Holy Trinity in Oxford on Feb. 15. Burial was private.
Donations in his memory may be made to the David N. Webster Scholarship Fund at Providence College, c/o Office of Institutional Advancement, 1 Cunningham Square, Providence, RI 02918.
