Former Wall Student graduate brings law to Wall

A Wall High School graduate has made his dream come true. William Hustead has brought his "lawyer shingle" to his hometown in Wall, SD. "I am thrilled to be returning to my hometown," said William. "I have been dreaming of this day ever since I started law school eight years ago and am so grateful that it has finally materialized."

The Hustead Law Office in Wall opened on November 1, 2023. "First Interstate Bank was gracious enough to allow me to rent one of their unused offices," said Hustead. "I had been searching for corporate office space in Wall for some time and it became apparent that the bank offered everything I hoped for in terms of location and space availability."

William Hustead graduated from Wall High School in 2011. He graduated with an undergraduate degree in History from the University of St. Thomas in 2015. Then he continued his studies and graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 2018.

Hustead has been practicing law for five years (since October of 2018). "Upon my graduation from law school, I went to work for the firm Farrell, Farrell & Ginsbach in Hot Springs," said William. "I began working in a variety of areas including criminal law, family law, estate planning, school law, and civil litigation.

Hustead does not yet have a set schedule for office hours in Wall. "Due to my court obligations in Custer and Hot Springs, we have not yet set permanent hours and days for office hours," said Hustead. "My goal over the next several weeks is to iron out a regular block of time to have office hours in Wall." Hustead's long-term goal is to maintain a full-time practice in Wall.

"The Wall area is very underserved when it comes to legal services," said Hustead, "so I am eager to help the members of my hometown in any way that I can." William "Willie" is willing to offer his services to anyone who has a legal issue or needs legal advice. "Wall is unique in the sense that we have never had an attorney permanently set up shop in the community," said Hustead. "This is likely due to us being located on the edge of Pennington County, instead of being a county seat. The residents of Eastern Pennington County are desperately underserved for even the simplest legal question." 

When Hustead was a law student, the State Bar of South Dakota launched a Project Rural Practice. This was a combined effort between the State Bar and the Legislature to incentivize law students and lawyers to practice in South Dakota's rural communities. "This program came about because it was becoming apparent that lawyers were retiring in these rural communities with no one to replace them," said Hustead. “This forced people to drive exorbitant distances to have access to legal services. I am not a member of Project Rural Practice," said Hustead, "but the two other attorneys in my firm have signed on to the program. It entails a five-year commitment to practice full-time in a qualifying rural county or municipality in return for a yearly stipend."

Hustead anticipates that he will be coming to the Wall office frequently and noted he might even make it a habit to enjoy a great tasting hot roast beef sandwich at the famous Wall Drug Store, downtown Wall. "I practice with two other lawyers, Cole Romey and Austin Schaefer," said Hustead. "They both hail from rural communities and are excited about the many opportunities that establishing a practice in Wall will afford us, particularly in estate planning matters. They both have a keen interest in offering estate planning services to farmers and ranchers.”