Legal Legend of Color: Judge Joe L. Webster
Judge Webster, a native North Carolinian, grew up under hardworking Christian parents alongside five brothers and two sisters in the tobacco fields and textile mills in and around Madison, North Carolina. In 1972, he graduated from the local high school. He then entered Howard University where he graduated magna cum laude in 1976 and graduated from Howard University School of Law in 1979. Judge Webster also earned a Master of Laws degree in Judicial Studies from Duke University School of Law in 2016.
Upon graduating from Howard University School of Law, Judge Webster was selected as a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow and was assigned to work at Legal Services of Southern Piedmont in Charlotte, North Carolina. A year later, as the first African American attorney to practice law in Madison, North Carolina, Attorney Webster hung his shingle. For the next twenty-five years, he was primarily engaged in the general practice of law in Madison and in other mostly small towns. During this period, Attorney Webster also served as general counsel of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and as a town attorney as part of his law practice. Judge Webster has also served as Deputy Director of Legal Services of North Carolina, Inc., and as an adjunct professor of law at the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University. His dedication to his legal profession includes 13 years on the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners, including two years as chair. He became a member of the North Carolina Bar Association in the 1980s and served as one of the first chairs of the newly formed Minorities in the Profession Committee. Currently, Judge Webster serves as a Vice President on the North Carolina Bar Association’s Board of Governors and Board of Directors.
In 2006, Judge Webster was appointed as an administrative law judge in the Office of Administrative Hearings for the State of North Carolina, and on November 7, 2012, was administered the oath of office as the first African American United States Magistrate Judge in the Middle District of North Carolina.
For over forty years, Judge Webster has been about faith, dedication to family, and community service. These three pillars lead him to accept a calling as a minister of the gospel, having preached his Initial Sermon on July 18, 1998, and was ordained by the Goodwill Baptist Church and High Point Educational and Missionary Baptist Association in July 2001. For the last 10 years, Judge Webster has served as an Associate Minister at Oberlin Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. He views his ministry as one of encouraging the faithful and giving hope to the discouraged to persevere through the storms of life and to keep on seeking Jesus.
Judge Webster has been recognized for his contributions to the local, regional, and global communities by Howard University. In July 2018, Judge Webster was inducted into the Howard University Alumni Club of the Research Triangle Park Bison Hall of Fame. As a part of this recognition, a video entitled “Judge Webster-A Life of Calm Purpose” was commissioned by the alumni club. He has received numerous other awards for his contributions to the legal profession and community. In 1985, he received North Carolina Bar Association’s Pro Bono Service Award for providing free or reduced fees to clients in Rockingham County, North Carolina. In 1986, he received the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers’ Community Service Award. In February 2017, Judge Webster published his first book, The Making and Measure of a Judge: Biography of the Honorable Sammie Chess Jr. (Chapel Hill Press.) He has authored numerous articles for publication in state and national bar and university journals, including “Saving Our Profession: It’s Up to Us,” “A giant among judges and men,” and “the Stigma of Mental Illness.”
On May 3, 2023, Judge Webster and his wife, Diane, celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary. They are the immensely proud parents of two daughters, one son, and seven grandchildren. As a hobby, Judge Webster enjoys playing golf and writing.