Experience Counts
Judge Derwin L. Webb is the first African-American man to serve as a judge solely in Louisville’s Family Court in the history of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Derwin, who was born in Indianapolis, came to Louisville in 1988 to attend the University of Louisville. A standout basketball player at UofL for Hall of Fame basketball coach Denny Crum, Derwin was a team captain his senior year and earned the respect of his peers both on and off the basketball court. He also learned strong values as a student athlete who worked as hard in the classroom as he did on the basketball court.
The Judge graduated from UofL and its Louis D. Brandeis School of Law. As an undergraduate, he was elected to the Student Government Association, representing the interests of the student population. After graduating, Derwin began his legal career with the law firm Stites & Harbison, where he worked in the area of business and corporate law.
Returning later to his alma mater to work as an Assistant Athletic Director, he also was appointed by the president of the University to serve on the Commission on Diversity and Racial Equality.
Derwin has served on the boards of several nonprofit groups, including Dare to Care Food Bank, House of Ruth, Safe Place, and the March of Dimes. In 1999, he was named to Business First’s Forty Under 40, which honors outstanding young professionals in Louisville.
Derwin later was hired to lead the Kentuckiana Minority Business Council (KMBC), an organization designed to link corporate America and minority-owned businesses. He played a key role in the economic revitalization of small and minority-owned businesses in Kentucky, Southern Indiana and West Virginia. He grew the KMBC’s corporate and minority business membership and became a national voice on issues of inclusion and equality.
Derwin also worked for Greater Louisville Inc., the Metro Chamber of Commerce, where he was responsible for managing the chamber’s minority business development division.
Returning to the practice of law, Derwin opened the Webb Law Offices in 2005. He represented the interests of several defendants in high-profile cases throughout both states, fighting for the rights of individuals as private counsel and as a public defender.
During this time, he started the Legal Eagles, a program coordinated with prosecutors and the police department to teach Jefferson County Public School elementary students the importance of following the law. Derwin also served as treasurer of the Louisville Black Lawyers Association and is the past chair of the Criminal Law section of the Louisville Bar Association. In addition, he has been a volunteer coach for several elementary, middle, and high school teams in the Louisville and Southern Indiana region.
Judge Webb’s service in Family Court continues his commitment to improving the lives of children and families in Louisville.