GDCR is a full-service law firm founded on a vision of providing our clients with advice and expertise at the highest levels and developing meaningful relationships for the long-term.
Austin Gillis is a member of GDCR’s Education Practice. He represents local school boards and their board members, administrators, and instructors in litigation, helping clients respond to legal and regulatory challenges. He has extensive experience as a civil litigator, having worked in insurance and liability defense, business litigation, and construction litigation.
Education
J.D., University of Georgia School of Law, 2004
B.A., Oglethorpe University, 2001
Admissions
Georgia, 2004 Tennessee, 2014 Supreme Court of Georgia and Georgia Court of Appeals, 2007 United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia, 2010 United States Supreme Court, 2012 United States District Court, Middle District of Georgia, 2013 United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, 2014 United States District Court, Middle District of Tennessee, 2015 United States District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, 2018
Professional Organizations and Memberships
State Bar of Georgia
Member since 2004
Cobb County Bar Association
Member since 2004
Recipient of the Cobb County Bar Association President’s Award in 2005
Two-time editor of the Cobb Bar News
Cobb County Younger Lawyer’s Division
Member since 2004
Secretary, 2010-2013
Oglethorpe University National Alumni Association
Member of Alumni Board of Directors, 2010-2016
Secretary, 2011-2012
Vice President, 2012-2013
President, 2013-2015
Oglethorpe University Board of Trustees
Member, 2013-present
Cobb County High School Mock Trial, Marietta, Georgia
Attorney Coach of Marietta High School Mock Trial Team, 2006-2009 (2007 Region Runner-Up)
Judge, Cobb County Mock Trial Competition, 2010-present
The Extension (Marietta, Georgia)
Board member at a residential addiction recovery center for formerly homeless men and women, 2012-present
Manos de Jesus Mission (Chichicastenango, Guatemala)
Participated in mission trip, building houses and feeding schoolchildren, 2019
Education
J.D., University of Georgia School of Law, 2004B.A., Oglethorpe University, 2001
Admissions
Georgia, 2004 Tennessee, 2014 Supreme Court of Georgia and Georgia Court of Appeals, 2007 United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia, 2010 United States Supreme Court, 2012 United States District Court, Middle District of Georgia, 2013 United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, 2014 United States District Court, Middle District of Tennessee, 2015 United States District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, 2018
Austin, a native of Marietta, Georgia, has been practicing law in Cobb County since 2004. He began his career as a staff attorney in the Superior Court of Cobb County, and he has worked as a civil litigator since entering private practice in 2007.
Throughout his career, Austin has represented a broad array of clients, including hospitals and health care systems, large civil engineering firms, commercial and residential construction companies, insurers, small business owners, and banks. He has handled a wide variety of cases from inception through conclusion. He has taken hundreds of depositions, attended countless hearings, and served as lead counsel in regulatory hearings, arbitrations, and jury trials.
As a member of GDCR’s Education Practice, Austin assists in representing the firm’s education clients in lawsuits pending in both state and federal courts, as well as before administrative agencies. He aids in the development and oversight of policies and procedures, compliance with federal and state rules and regulations, and resolution of general administrative and regulatory issues.
Education
J.D., University of Georgia School of Law, 2004
B.A., Oglethorpe University, 2001
Admissions
Georgia, 2004 Tennessee, 2014 Supreme Court of Georgia and Georgia Court of Appeals, 2007 United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia, 2010 United States Supreme Court, 2012 United States District Court, Middle District of Georgia, 2013 United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, 2014 United States District Court, Middle District of Tennessee, 2015 United States District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, 2018
Among other favorable results Austin has obtained for his clients, he has:
successfully challenged experts’ qualifications under Georgia’s Daubert statute, leading to the exclusion of such experts’ testimony (see, e.g., Vaughan v. WellStar Health System, Inc., 304 Ga.App. 596 (2010));
secured dismissals and summary judgments in numerous liability cases;
won trials by jury verdict and by directed verdict; and
successfully mediated cases ranging from business disputes, to personal injury cases, to cases concerning privacy rights.
Education
J.D., University of Georgia School of Law, 2004
B.A., Oglethorpe University, 2001
Admissions
Georgia, 2004 Tennessee, 2014 Supreme Court of Georgia and Georgia Court of Appeals, 2007 United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia, 2010 United States Supreme Court, 2012 United States District Court, Middle District of Georgia, 2013 United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, 2014 United States District Court, Middle District of Tennessee, 2015 United States District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, 2018