About Patrick Arden

The Man Who Talked His Way Into Law School

Room 2119 of the Dirksen Federal Building is packed — lawyers confer and reporters chat. In the midst of this whirl, Dan K. Webb quietly sits alone at a table, writing on a yellow legal pad. He’s just flown in from Washington, D.C., where he is representing Philip Morris in the government’s $280 billion trial against the tobacco industry. Now back in Chicago, he’s supposed to defend former Illinois governor George Ryan on corruption charges.   But Webb has a problem: He’s too busy. …