Admitted to practise law in Germany (Rechtsanwalt) and England & Wales (Solicitor), Matthias Goetz advises national and international companies on German, English and European data protection law.

Before co-founding the law firm Nikol & Goetz, Matthias worked for several years in a leading international law firm in London providing strategic and practical advice on data protection law to his clients. His practice includes, inter alia, negotiating complex data protection agreements under German or English law and advising on the cross-border transfer of data. In addition to German clients, Matthias also advises numerous multinational and international companies and organisations from various jurisdictions around the world, including from the European Union, United Kingdom, USA, India and the United Arab Emirates. These companies and organisations include, inter alia, multinational automobile manufacturers, organisations from the professional sports sector, tech companies, and various innovative start-ups.

Matthias regularly speaks at events and gives lectures on data protection law and publishes articles in leading data protection journals.

Bars and Courts

• Rechtsanwalt (Germany)
• Solicitor (England & Wales)

Work Experience and Education

• Worked for several years as Rechtsanwalt and Solicitor (England & Wales) in the London office of White & Case LLP, a leading international law firm
• During his legal clerkship, worked at the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe and in the Munich and London offices of Noerr LLP, a leading German law firm
• LL.M., University of Cambridge (UK)
• Legal studies at the University of Freiburg (Germany) and at National Law School of India University (Bangalore, India).
• During his studies, worked numerous years as a research assistant at the Chair of Intellectual Property Law at the University of Freiburg (Prof. Dr. M. Haedicke, LL.M).

Speaking Engagements and Events

• „Data Utilisation and Data Protection: The Relationship between GDPR, Data Act and Data Governance Act“, Stiftung Datenschutz – Datenschutz am Mittag, Germany (December 14, 2023)
• Referenced in the newspaper journal „Digitalwende” of the Süddeutsche Zeitung on the topic of “Data Act: Seeking Legal Clarity”, Munich, Germany (December 14, 2023)
• „Data Act: Relationship with the GDPR and Opportunities and Risks for the Bundesliga”, Meeting of the data protection officers of the football clubs of the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga, Hamburg, Germany (November 28, 2023)
• „Data Contracts and the Conflict between the Data Act and the GDPR”, Annual Conference of the DGRI 2023, Hamburg, Germany (November 24, 2023)
• Guest in episode #25 of Stefan Graf’s podcast Dreisheiten (September 3, 2023)
• „Meeting of the data protection officers of the football clubs of the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga”, Moderator and Organiser, Freiburg, Germany (March 28 & 29, 2023)
• „Data Protection and Antitrust“, 8th National Conference on Economics of Competition Law, Competition Commission of India, Delhi, India (March 3, 2023)
• Selected as one of 20 Rising Stars from the legal profession across various jurisdictions by Paris Place de Droit and participation in the Paris Place de Droit Summer Camp 2022, Paris, France (July 2022)
• Lecturer at the Verwaltungs- und Wirtschafts-Akademie (VWA) Freiburg for the course “Betriebliche*r Datenschutzbeauftragte*r“ (transl. Company Data Protection Officer)
• „From PDP Bill, 2019 to Data Protection Bill, 2021 and Beyond – A Roundtable Discussion”, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, Delhi, India (January 19, 2022)
• „Why should US businesses care about EU data protection law?” Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA, USA (February 6, 2018)
• „Data Protection from a Transatlantic Perspective: How Private are EU Citizens’ Data?”, Harvard Center for European Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA (February 6, 2018)
• „Ensuring GDPR compliance, Computing’s Cybersecurity Strategy Briefing (for the financial sector), London, UK (October 19, 2017)
• „Introduction to IP law for science students”, Blackett Society, Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, UK (November 27, 2015)

Representative Publications

• Data Act-Entwurf und Ansprüche auf den Zugang zu Fahrzeugdaten (transl. Draft Data Act and claims for access to vehicle data), RAW 2023, 02/2023 (September 2023)
• Datenübermittlung im Konzern: Übertragung von Daten aus dem E-Mail-Account eines Mitarbeiters (trans. Transfer of data within a corporate group: transfer of data from an email account of an employee), RDV 03/2023, co-author Prof. Dr. B. Paal (June 2023)
• Aktuelle Rechtsfragen zur Datenübertragbarkeit aus Art. 20 DS-GVO (transl. Current legal questions on data portability under Art. 20 GDPR), Zeitschrift für Datenschutz (ZD) 02/2023, co-author Prof. Dr. B. Paal (February 2023)
• GPS-Daten und Datenschutzrecht – Aktuelle Fragestellungen mit einem Fokus auf den Automobilsektor (transl. GPS data and data protection law – current issues with a focus on the automotive sector), RDV 05/2022, co-author Prof. Dr. B. Paal (October 2022)
• Chapter on “Unfair Competition Law in the Real Estate Sector”, Kompendium für Immobilienberufe (transl. Compendium for Real Estate Professionals), Boorberg, 14th edition (October 2022)
• Der Weg von der Großkanzlei zur eigenen international agierenden Datenschutz-Kanzlei (transl. The journey from big law to running my own international data protection boutique law firm), Perspektive Jura 2023, e-fellows.net (September 2022)
• Rechtsfragen bei der Benennung eines externen Datenschutzbeauftragten für mehrere Unternehmen (transl. Legal issues regarding the appointment of an external data protection officer for several companies), Datenschutz-Berater 05/2022, co-author Prof. Dr. B. Paal (May 2022)
• „Bring your own device“ versus Datenschutz (transl. “Bring your own device” versus data protection), Platow Recht (October 2020)
• Chapter 4 (Blockchain and Smart Contracts), Handbook of Blockchain Law: A Guide to Understanding and Resolving the Legal Challenges of Blockchain Technology, 1^st edition, co-authors Dr. Philip Trillmich & Chris Ewing (July 2020)
• Jurisdiction Chapter United Kingdom, International Comparative Legal Guide (ICLG) to: Data Protection 2020, 7th edition, co-author Tim Hickman (Juli 2020)
• Joint controllers under the GDPR – implications for transactional lawyers, LexisNexis PSL Information Law, Co-author Tim Hickman (June 2018)
• If you obtain personal data such as email addresses from the internet, in practical terms what are your obligations under the GDPR?, Practical Law, co-author Tim Hickman & Chris Ewing (April 2018)
• Effect of Brexit on IP, Intellectual Property Magazine, co-author Philip Trillmich (March 2017)
• IP addresses and personal data: Did CJEU ask the right questions?, PrivacyLaw&Business International, co-author Tim Hickman (February 2017)
• Data transfers after Schrems: discord in the EU, SC Magazine, co-author Tim Hickman (January 2016)

Contact Details

• Phone: +49 (0) 761 / 22604
• Email: matthias.goetz@nikolgoetz.com
• For encryption of electronic communication, you can find our public key (PGP) in the Legal Information section.