Published on
By Anna Sago
Growing up with her father, then a state court judge in Memphis, Mo., Erin Webber, ’96, remembers a different kind of dinnertime chats: pre-trial conferences.
“He was appointed by the Missouri Supreme Court to handle a lot of cases around the state that were tricky. He was a circuit judge in small three rural counties, so he had time, and was an excellent jurist,” she recalled. “Back in the day, he would invite the prosecuting attorney and the defense lawyer over to our house, and they’d knock things out over whatever we were having for dinner.”
Her father, Hon. E. Richard Webber, ‘64, is now a retired senior United States district judge in the Eastern District of Missouri, but despite her early exposure to the law, Erin saw a different path for herself as an undergraduate: English and psychology. The labor market had other plans.
“When I graduated, I realized, I’m going to have to get a graduate degree,” she said. “I wish that I had a better story, like, ‘I always dreamed of being a lawyer,’ but I was around it a lot, so it wasn’t too much of a gap to bridge.”
After receiving her bachelor’s degree from Mizzou, Webber decided to stay in Columbia and follow in her father’s footsteps by attending Mizzou Law. She ultimately earned her legal degree as a member of the outstanding Mizzou Law class of 1996.
“All the professors were fabulous,” Webber said of her time in law school, giving a particular shout out to her employment law professor, Michael Middleton. “I did think that I really wanted to be a trial lawyer … the classes that I tended to lean towards in law school were with that in mind.”
But it wasn’t all peachy, Webber said.
“The first semester of law school, I treated it a little bit like it was college,” she recalled. “I didn’t take it nearly as seriously as I should have and did very poorly the first semester. I remember that day when I went to get grades after first semester and I was like, ‘Wow, I have to adjust my style and practice.’”
Her litigation aspirations and new outlook on law school led Webber to buckle down, and immediately following graduation, she found work in family law at a firm in St. Joseph, Mo., where she was asked to take over the then premier divorce attorney’s practice before she retired.
“It was an amazing first job out of law school, because I had this tremendous mentor in Grace Day,” she recalled. “It was an incredible experience. That said, I hated family law … I realized I didn’t want to do that for the rest of my career.”
Webber decided to pivot again. This time, it wasn’t an abundance of labor that pushed her to change paths, but rather an interest in labor law. After a fellow employee had to take a sabbatical, Webber stepped up to cover her docket and uncovered a new area of interest.
When the attorney returned to the firm, Webber continued to delve into employment law with her new mentor.
A few years later, Webber moved to Denver to be closer to her favorite vacation spots. After around a year of practicing commercial litigation in Denver, Webber started a new position at Littler Mendelson P.C., where she returned to employment law.
Now, more than 20 years later, Webber has risen through the ranks of the world’s largest labor and employment law firm, being tapped as the organization’s president and managing director in 2021. Her advice to those just starting out? Trust in your own abilities.
“When I was practicing, even before I was in this role, I might have a hard case, I might have a hard trial,” she said. “Whatever hardship or challenging circumstance in which you might find yourself, realize you’re relying on yourself – you’ve got the innate skills and capabilities, you’ve just got to work harder or smarter.”