Dustin Ercolano - Salinas, CA

Dustin Ercolano was born into a military household. While he spent a portion of his childhood in Fort Ord housing in Monterey, he spent his most of his childhood abroad—living in a total of eight duty stations including Japan and the Philippines—before returning to California to attend college and law school at the University of San Francisco. He graduated in the top 5% of his class, received the CALI Award in his Legal Research and Writing class, and served his community through USF’s Criminal and Juvenile Justice Clinic and Racial Justice Clinic. Through his participation in the latter, Dustin’s work helped overturn a 2012 wrongful conviction out of New Orleans, Louisiana that resulted in a 60-year sentence in prison. Dustin went on to represent USF on its National Appellate Advocacy Moot Court Team and served as an editor for the USF Law Review publication.

Dustin obtained professional experience through internships at the Contra Costa Public Defender’s Office, Marin County Public Defender’s Office, and Office of the State Public Defender. After passing the California Bar Exam, Dustin worked as a volunteer attorney for Marin County Public Defender’s Office before connecting with one of his law school’s proud alumni, William Pernik, and agreeing to return to Monterey. Dustin has been working as an associate attorney for the Law Offices of William V. Pernik since the start of 2022 and has already demonstrated his fighting spirit by taking up writs against judicial decisions that failed to uphold the law as written and intended.

Feeling strong personal ties to the military community, Dustin has a close interest in advising veterans and active-duty service members of their legal options and advocating for the diversion of charges against this demographic into treatment courts for eventual dismissal. Dustin is impassioned by the prospect of providing empathic and wholistic legal representation to his clients to ensure that more than just their immediate legal issues are being met.