AUSTIN CHARLES

I am a corporate attorney, entrepreneur, and nationally sought speaker on mindfulness in law.

After reaching the rank of Senior Associate in Alston & Bird’s Investment Funds group, I started my own firm, Charles Strategic Counsel (“CSC”), to advise entrepreneurs, investors, and established businesses.

At Alston & Bird, my practice specialized in raising and managing private equity funds. Specifically, my efforts were focused on serving as “outsourced general counsel” to a 34 billion dollar fund. In that capacity, I managed structure and compliance issues for each of the client’s acquisitions, dispositions and financings. As part of the team serving as counsel to the fund, I negotiated Master Service Agreements, Financing Instruments, Operating Agreements, and more.

The fund management experience provided great training and led me to work from Alston & Bird’s offices in London, New York, and Silicon Valley.

Over time, I found my passion assisting entrepreneurial clients as they worked through practical concerns large and small. My experience includes:

  • Leading an ed-tech start up through a 2.5M raise at 13M valuation

  • Negotiating a 230K cash and multimillion dollar equity settlement for a partner exiting a venture capital firm 

  • Guiding partners in the formation and operation of a multinational technology company

  • Assisting in the merger and acquisition of a 24M real estate company 

  • Leading a 2M secondaries acquisition for a London-based venture capital firm

Over the years, I have also gained extensive experience in conflict resolution both as a mediator and an advocate. As a court appointed registered neutral, I have mediated 200+ court ordered disputes with a 95% settlement rate.

I understand the challenges of starting and running a business because I have done it. In 2019, four partners and I acquired Forest Lake Greenhouses, an industrial-scale greenhouse in Florence, SC. We have navigated many of the challenges that growing businesses face: leadership changes, a pandemic, inflation, employee turnover, and significant CapEx projects.  Through it all, we have grown our business by over 30% and expanded our regional footprint. This experience allows me to advise clients from a practical as well as a legal vantage point. 

In addition to my entrepreneurial and legal work, I am a leading national advocate for mindfulness in the legal profession.  Before beginning my legal career, I engaged in extensive study of martial arts, yoga, and meditation, which led me to study in China and Japan. Upon entering law school, I co-founded the Mindfulness In Law Society to help introduce contemplative practice to the legal profession.  The organization now includes chapters around the country and throughout the world. This has led to consulting work and speaking engagements from law schools to Fortune 500 companies. I currently sit on the board of the New York Zen Center and the national Mindfulness in Law Society.