Education
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Columbia Law SchoolJ.D., with honors
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Vanderbilt UniversityB.A., magna cum laude
Clerkships
- Hon. Sam Sparks, United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
Representative Matters
- Successfully obtained a 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.
- 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 represented a Texas business owner in connection with a contentious business separation and secured a six-figure jury verdict on tortious-interference claims after a week-long jury trial in Texas state court.
- 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.
Biography
In his trial work, his written advocacy, and his strategic counsel to clients, Austin Krist helps people solve hard legal problems.
With an innate ability to identify and develop the critical legal and factual issues in a dispute—the ones that make a difference between winning and losing—Austin represents clients in a wide range of disputes and frequently appears in both federal and state courts on behalf of businesses and individuals. His practice focuses on commercial litigation, including contract disputes, business divorces, trade secret misappropriation, and fiduciary relationships.
Austin is particularly adept at analyzing and briefing complicated questions of law, and explaining complex factual scenarios to judges and juries alike in a clear, compelling manner.
Austin received his law degree from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and a James Kent Scholar. He also served on the Editorial Board of the Columbia Law Review. Austin earned his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University, where he graduated magna cum laude with majors in English and Economics.
Austin previously served as a law clerk to Judge Sam Sparks in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, and also worked at Ropes & Gray in New York.