Our mission is to provide outstanding legal service to the Black Hills community and the surrounding area.
The firm of Costello, Porter, Hill, Heisterkamp, Bushnell & Carpenter, LLP, was already providing legal services to its clients when South Dakota joined the Union in 1889.
The firm of Costello Porter, as it is commonly known today, began when Charles J. Buell started practicing law in the South Dakota frontier town of Rapid City. Ten years later, he was joined in the practice of law by Archibald K. Gardner. In 1929, the quality of the members of the firm was nationally recognized when Archibald Gardner was appointed Circuit Court Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, where he served with distinction until 1961.
The pioneer law firm known as Buell and Gardner more than a century ago has evolved and expanded through the generations and is now one of the largest and most diversified practices in the state.
Since 1889, and continuing today, the firm has represented a diverse clientele, including individuals, corporations, and partnerships; medical clinics and surgical centers; insurance and bonding companies; members of the banking and construction industry; professionals such as doctors, architects and engineers; Indian Tribes; and major employers and their employees throughout the State of South Dakota and Wyoming.
Costello Porter is proud of its attorneys and their broad range of trial experience in state, federal, administrative and tribal courts. Many of the firm's attorneys have served as judicial clerks for the South Dakota Supreme Court, the State's Circuit Courts, the State's Federal Courts. Our members are active in the South Dakota and American Bar Associations, as well as regional and tribal bar associations; the South Dakota Trial Lawyers Association; the Defense Research Institute; the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates, American College of Trial Lawyers and International Association of Defense Counsel. Attorneys are listed in the Best Lawyers of America and Chambers USA (America's Leading Business Lawyers).
We have provided quality legal service throughout South Dakota since 1889. We continue in the tradition of serving our community and its needs in both war time and peace time. We look forward to providing for our community's needs in the future with the same quality and timely legal service our clients have come to expect throughout the years. Costello Porter invites you to become a member of this tradition.
