RALEIGH — Entering his third term, Rep. Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) smiles as he talks about being one of the youngest members of the General Assembly to enter the top echelon of N.C. legislative leadership. Picked to chair the powerful House Rules Committee, Hall becomes the first millennial to hold such a high office in either chamber of the state legislature.
The 33-year-old lawyer is also chairman of the House Committee on Redistricting. While redistricting will likely be a major policy area in this new session of the General Assembly, his role as Rules chair makes him part of a leadership triumvirate in the House with Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) and Majority Leader John Bell (R-Wayne).
Hall took over the leadership reigns from former Rep. David Lewis. Lewis abruptly resigned in August of 2020 and later that month pled guilty to making false statements to a bank and for failing to file a 2018 federal tax return.
Hall, a bachelor, told North State Journal about growing up in Caldwell County and being raised by both sets of his grandparents. His maternal grandparents are still living, but his paternal grandparents have since passed away.
“I began living with them when I was about seven or eight. I was blessed with wonderful grandparents on each side,” said Hall. He said holds “no ill will” against his parents, adding, “they were just not at a place in their lives where they could be parents.”
Hall graduated from Appalachian State University with a bachelor’s degree and went on to Wake Forest for his law degree. He practiced law in Charlotte after law school before returning to Caldwell County after some of his grandparents began having health issues.
“They got to a point where they couldn’t really do things on their own, but they were still at home. So, I felt a real need to go back and help them,” Hall said, recalling how much they had done for him as a youth. “I ultimately left my firm and Charlotte, went back home to Lenoir to help my grandparents, really with the idea that I would probably go back to Charlotte at some point.”
But he did not return to Charlotte.
Around the time Hall moved back home, Caldwell County’s state House seat opened up. “My law practice was growing, and I enjoyed being back home so I began to consider staying in Lenoir long term,” said Hall. “I knew then that I wanted to live and work in Caldwell County, and I wanted to try to make Caldwell County the best place that I can possibly make it.”
Hall said he ran to “make sure that Caldwell County’s voice is heard in Raleigh.”
“I’m from Caldwell County. I live there now. I plan to live there for the rest of my life,” Hall said. “And I want to do all I can to make the place grow and improve.”
Hall says his firm, Wilson, Lackey, Rohr & Hall, P.C., is “like a lot of firms in smaller towns,” they do a little bit of everything.
“We focus on litigation,” Hall said. “We do some local government work. We represent the county, the Board of Education, the community college and city of Lenoir.”
Hall said his choice of a legal career “goes back to my being raised by my grandparents.” None of his grandparents went to college. “Even though they didn’t get to attend college themselves, they wanted me to go,” said Hall. One of his grandfathers had to drop out to go to work and help his family financially.
“He did well in life. He certainly was not rich by any means, but he did very well with what he had to work with,” said Hall. “And you know, he always would tell me growing up, ‘Hey just think about it; you can go to school for seven years, and by the time you’re 25 or 26, you could be a lawyer.’”
“I heard that enough that it at least piqued my interest, and as I got older, and then I got into undergrad, I got more and more interested in it,” Hall said. “I’ve always been interested in government and in history, and it was a natural progression to go into law.”
When he is not at the legislature, Hall spends much of his time at work in Lenoir at his law office, where he can often be found on the weekend. He is also engaged with his church, Union Grove Baptist, where he serves as the church’s assistant brotherhood director.
