He attended the University of California at Santa Cruz and University of California at Berkeley (B.A., with highest honors, 1974) and received his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1978. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Adrian J. Duplantier, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, in 1978 -1979.

Mr. Webster was an Adjunct Professor of Law in Bankruptcy at Loyola University School of Law in 1983 -1984, 2000, and spring semester 2001. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Southern California Law School, where he has taught bankruptcy since 2001. Mr. Webster is the author of "Collateral Control Decisions in Chapter Cases-Clear Rules v. Judicial Discretion," 51 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 197, 1977; and "The Utility of Section 366 of the Bankruptcy Code," 19 Beverly Hills Law Journal 15, 1985.

He is a member of The State Bar of California (Debtor/Creditor Relations Committee, 1984 -1987); Los Angeles County Bar Association (Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Section) Executive Committee Member, 1999 - present;  Chair of the Executive Committee, 2005-2006; Bankruptcy Committee Chair 2001-2002; and the American Bar Association (Section on Business Law). Mr. Webster was inducted as a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy in 2002.