Christopher A. Austin

Christopher Austin is a principal shareholder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Austin & Pethick Law Firm, PC. He is a life-long resident of Aiken County, having graduated from Silver Bluff High School in 2003. He graduated college from the University of South Carolina with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Business Administration. Chris obtained his Juris Doctorate from Charlotte School of Law in 2010 and received his LL.M. (Master of Laws) in taxation from the University of Alabama in July 2021.

Chris leads Austin & Pethick’s Estate Planning, Probate, and Tax practice. He has been practicing for over ten years. Chris has experience and focuses on assisting clients with various estate planning matters ranging from simple to the more advanced and complex estate planning (estates above the unified credit, currently $12.92 million, both domestic and international), asset protection, estate and trust administration (domestic and international), business succession planning, and tax planning, involving the structuring of business organizations, commercial real estate transactions, and corporate transactions.

Chris is licensed in SC, GA, and TN. He is certified by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils as an Accredited Estate Planner (AEP®) Distinguished, fluent in Spanish and certified to practice before the United States Tax Court.

Accredited Estate Planner® Designee
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

• Master of Laws in Taxation

Charlotte School of Law, Charlotte, NC

University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

• Magna Cum Laude
• Political Science
• Omicron Delta Kappa
• Pi Sigma Alpha
• National Scholars
• Collegiate All-American Scholar
• President’s List
• National Dean’s List
• Dean’s List
• The Outstanding Student Achievement Triumph Honor Societies (TOAST)

• Fluent in Spanish
• Proficient in Interactive Legal Suite and WealthCounsel Estate Planning Software
• West Law, EDGAR (the electronicdatabase of the SEC)
• SoftPro – Real Estate Closing Software
• Cosmolex and NetDocuments-Case Management Systems
• Professional Research Certification on Lexis Nexis
• Negations,Mediation
• Legal Research

• Certified to practice before the United States District Court, District ofSouth Carolina and the United States Tax Court
• Selected as a 2023 Rising Star by Super Lawyers
• Member of the South Carolina Bar Association, State Bar of Georgia,Tennessee Bar Association, Aiken County Bar Association
• South Carolina Licensed Title Insurance Agent
• Candidate for the Aiken Technical College Board of Trustees
• Member of Cedar Creek Church
• Corporate Member of the Reserve Club at Woodside, Aiken SC
• Member of Wealth Counsel
• Member of American Land Title Association (ALTA)
• Frequent speaker on business, estate planning, and probate issues forvarious Financial Advisors, Bar sponsored events, and SCORE
• Involved in local government, City Attorney for the City of New Ellentonand formerly for the Town of Wagener
• Former Advisory Board Member of SRP Federal Credit Union
• Former Board Member of Aiken Steeple Chase Association
• Former Advisory Board Member of the Boys and Girls Club of Aiken, SC