About William H. Oast
William H. Oast III earned his B.A. from Washington & Lee University in 1971 and completed his J.D. at Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1974. His legal education at a single institution gave him continuity through undergraduate and professional study, and it launched a career that has remained centered in Virginia. Over the decades he has built a practice that touches courtroom work, advisory matters and community involvement.
He is admitted to the bar of Virginia and is also admitted to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court. Early in his career he served as senior partner and president of Oast & Hook PC in 1974. That role placed him in the thick of firm leadership from the outset of his professional life. He later moved into firm management at Oast & Taylor PLC, where he has been a managing member and served as president, including holding the presidency in 2012.
Those leadership positions have run alongside active participation in professional organizations. He served as Virginia Chapter President of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers from 1991 to 1993. He has been a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and continues to hold membership in groups that reflect the range of his work: the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the Trusts and Estates Section of the Virginia State Bar.
Local bar and civic ties are also part of his profile. He maintains membership in the Virginia Beach Bar Association and the Portsmouth Bar Association, and he is a member of the Portsmouth Rotary Club. Those connections have kept him engaged with both the legal community and local civic life. The combination of bar work, association leadership and community involvement has shaped a practice that moves between trial courtroom matters and sensitive advisory roles for families and individuals.
Across a long career he has combined firm leadership with continuing participation in specialty groups. That mix of management, litigation experience and association activity informs how he approaches cases and client matters. He is based at Oast & Taylor PLC, where he continues to practice. His practice addresses family law, trusts and estates and elder law matters.
