J. Austin Thomas received his B.A. in Business Administration from the College of Charleston and a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law. Born in Lexington, SC, Austin grew up in Pawleys Island and currently makes Murrells Inlet his home.

Austin served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Benjamin H. Culbertson Judge of Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Georgetown and Conway, SC. participating in numerous Civil and Criminal jury trials. Austin entered private practice with a small Pawleys Island firm where he handled real estate transactions and civil litigation. Austin seized an opportunity to work as an Assistant Solicitor in the Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor's Office as a designated DUI prosecutor and later moved on to handle a wide variety of criminal offenses in both Horry and Georgetown Counties.

As a founding partner of Grooms and Thomas, LLC, Austin is now engaged in the handling all aspects of the general practice law including; Business and Personal Litigation, Accidents, Probate Court, and Criminal Defense.