philosophy & Approach

Your family's wealth is greater than the sum of its assets. Wealth is a reflection of your family's values, aspirations, planning, and relationships invested over generations. Through my law practice, I help family offices and closely held businesses acquire, manage and protect wealth as an objective and trusted partner.

services

I provide services in the following areas:

General Counsel for Closely Held Businesses

As General Counsel, I assist family offices and closely held businesses with corporate governance, entity selection and structuring, compliance, capital raise and deployment, and the purchase and sale of business interest.

Real Estate and Private Equity Investment

I identify, evaluate, negotiate and structure direct and passive commercial real estate investments, oversee legal due diligence, and engage and supervise teams of property managers and leasing agents to operate property across the United States.

Intergenerational Wealth Transfer

I facilitate intergenerational wealth transfer by creating trusts, corporate entities and other legal mechanisms that perpetuate and sustain your family's values. I counsel clients on succession planning, and facilitate interfamily communication.

U.S. Based Representation for International Clients

I represent non-U.S. based family offices and independent investors with respect to their U.S. real estate and business investments, providing strategic and technical coordination with local and foreign tax counsel, and structure foreign ownership of U.S.-based business.

David Austin, attorney at law

Attorney David E. Austin provides specialized real estate advisory and legal services to clients in Hawaii, the mainland United States, and Hong Kong. He brings experience in real estate law, management, brokerage, development, and title and escrow to his practice, which integrates traditional legal services and real estate advisory and consulting.
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Prior to opening his private practice in 2015, David worked for several major Honolulu law firms as a real estate litigator, in real estate development and finance, and for a national title and escrow company.

In addition to his law firm, David is a partner with IX Advisors LLC, a Seattle-based capital advisory and General Counsel to Brandon Holdings, Inc. Last year, IX Advisors LLC oversaw approximately $250 million in commercial real estate transactions in Dallas, Denver and Phoenix. The company oversees approximately 750,000 square feet in commercial real estate in Phoenix, Denver, and Dallas Fort-Worth.

David was also co-author of the Hawaii Limited Liability Company Manual, published by the Hawaii State Bar association, is a member of the HSBA Real Property and Financial Services Section, and is currently President of the University of Pennsylvania Alumni Club of Hawai‘i.
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David received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies with a concentration in Chinese language, his J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief, University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class, and also holds an M.S., Real Estate Development from the Johns Hopkins University Carey School of Business. He is admitted to practice law in Hawai‘i, Texas, the District of Columbia and Maryland (inactive).