Austin Flynn

Areas of practice
Corporate Law, Intellectual Property & Technology Law, English Services

Austin is a winner of the Corporate Lawyer of the Year accolade (Law Awards of Scotland) and is continually praised for his technical knowledge and expertise as well as the consistently high level of service he provides to clients; he is described in Legal 500 as exhibiting ‘great knowledge and professionalism’, “unflappable, diplomatic and rigorous – he inspires great confidence” and by clients as having “a serene steeliness” and “a laser-like focus on always moving forward.” He is a recommended corporate legal adviser in Legal 500.

He is a recognised expert in corporate and commercial law, including share and asset acquisitions and disposals, MBOs and MBIs, private equity fundraisings, corporate re-structurings, joint venture structures, shareholder and partnership disputes, new company start-ups, spin-outs, agency, distribution and franchising agreements. He is a leading adviser to SMEs and owner-managed businesses, and to the healthcare sector. Austin also has expertise in IP, IT, Data Protection and Freedom of Information matters, and is head of the firm’s IP, IT and Information Law Team, as well as being the firm's Data Protection Compliance Officer. He is qualified in England & Wales as well as in Scotland, having practised for 7 years in England before moving to Scotland in 1997 and becoming Scots qualified in 1999.

Key deals handled by Austin so far in 2011 include acting for:

• The Edinburgh Clinic in securing a private equity investment from Aspen Healthcare, the US-based private healthcare provider;
• Festival Group Limited in the sale of Scotbet to its management team. Scotbet is Scotland's largest independent bookmaker, with 65 outlets; and
• Great British Chefs on the newly-launched app for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The app was launched in July with a collection of 180 recipes from 12 chefs including Martin Wishart, Marcus Wareing and Tom Aikens. Between them, the featured chefs hold 15 Michelin stars. Austin’s team advised on the contracts for the publishing of the app content, the contract for the development of the app, the website development contract, website terms and conditions and privacy policy.

Austin sits on the board of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, and is the Chairman of The Edinburgh Small Business Development Fund.