Biography

In his trial work, his written advocacy, and his strategic counsel to clients, Austin Krist helps people solve challenging legal problems. Austin is a first-chair trial lawyer who represents plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes commercial litigation across Texas and around the country. A generalist by choice, Austin handles litigation across a broad array of industries and subject matters, in cases involving contractual disputes, fraud, business divorces, breaches of fiduciary duty, and trade secret misappropriation. In addition to his trial work, he also frequently handles appeals.

Austin takes particular pride in his written and oral advocacy, where he excels at navigating complicated questions of law and distilling complex factual situations into clear, compelling narratives. A third-generation Texas lawyer, Austin is at his best in the courtroom, where he is adept at empathizing with and ultimately persuading judges and juries alike. He has successfully tried jury cases to verdict throughout Texas, from arguing the jury charge to delivering closing arguments and examining (and cross-examining) key witnesses. Austin’s strategic sensibility and ease in front of a jury are grounded in his early experience clerking for a federal judge and in trying cases with (and against) some of the top trial lawyers in the country.

In litigation, attention to detail matters, and Austin focuses on identifying critical legal and factual issues early in a dispute—the ones that make a difference between winning and losing. At the outset of any case, Austin takes the time to understand each client’s goals, and he has earned his clients’ trust by handling cases efficiently and effectively while steering clear of irrelevant issues and distractions.

Prior to co-founding Cleveland Krist, Austin served as a law clerk to Judge Sam Sparks in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and also worked for a major law firm in New York. He earned his law degree from Columbia Law School, where he graduated with honors and served on the editorial board of the Columbia Law Review.  Austin was selected as one of the country’s 500 Leading Litigators by Lawdragon in 2025. He has also been recognized by his peers as a Texas Rising Star in Business Litigation by Super Lawyers (published by Thomson Reuters) and selected by Chambers USA as an Up-and-Coming commercial litigator.

Clerkships

• Hon. Sam Sparks, United States District Court for the Western District of Texas

Representative Matters

• Successfully obtained multi-million-dollar jury verdict in a breach-of-contract and fraud case related to a disputed ownership interest in an Austin technology company.
• Successfully represented a Texas business owner who sold his company to an accounting firm in Alabama, defeating more than $30 million in fraud and breach-of-contract claims and obtaining an award of over $1.5 million in federal court in Alabama.
• Successfully defended Austin business owners and obtained unanimous take-nothing judgment after week-long trial in Texas state court on breach-of-contract and fraud claims seeking millions of dollars in damages in connection with sale of company.
• Successfully represented Texas business owner and obtained jury verdict awarding full damages in contentious business separation case after week-long trial in Texas state court.
• Secured dismissal of patent claims and grant of summary judgment on claims for misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contract, and tortious interference involving electro-therapeutic treatment equipment and procedures in federal court in Minnesota.
• Successfully defeated $2.5 million in tortious-interference claims related to business-divorce litigation removed to federal bankruptcy court.
• Successfully secured dismissal of conversion, fraud, and RICO claims asserted against a Texas business owner in federal court in California.
• Successfully secured dismissal of claims for patent infringement, unfair competition, tortious interference, and fraud asserted by foreign corporation against an Austin business owner in federal court.
• Successfully obtained order granting nondischargeability of entire bankruptcy case after bench trial in federal court and prevailed in subsequent appeal.
• Successfully secured dismissal of defamation action in federal court in Texas.
• Secured resolution and dismissal of business divorce action involving over $1 million in breach-of-contract and fraud claims in state court in Texas.