Austin Birnie advises businesses, financial institutions, non-profit organizations, investors, and entrepreneurs on corporate transactions, banking matters, and strategic business problems. His practice spans two complementary areas: general corporate work, including mergers and acquisitions, investment transactions, securities filings, and commercial contracts; and banking law, where he advises financial institution clients on commercial agreements, customer contracts, and fraud response.
On the corporate side, Austin guides mergers and acquisitions, investment transactions, and other complex deals with precision and a practical, solutions-oriented approach. He helps businesses navigate growth opportunities, ownership transitions, entity formation and governance, and the ongoing contract and compliance needs of operating companies. His transactional work regularly intersects with his estate and trust planning practice, where he advises business owners and families on succession, wealth transfer, and related planning. He also handles probate matters for the firm, bringing the same structured, strategic approach to estate administration that he applies to his corporate and banking work.
A significant component of Austin’s banking practice involves advising financial institution clients when customers experience major fraud events. When a fraud situation develops, Austin advises financial institutions in directing an immediate response, manages legal and financial exposure, and coordinates strategy through resolution. Austin also takes a proactive approach to fraud risk, working with financial institutions to develop processes and best practices designed to strengthen their response capabilities before a crisis hits.
Before joining Frederic Dorwart, Lawyers PLLC as a Member in 2024, Austin spent nearly a decade in commercial litigation at a regional Tulsa firm. That background gives him an edge his clients value: he structures transactions and advises on risk with a litigator’s understanding of how contracts are tested, how disputes develop, and where business relationships are most vulnerable.
