Franz Szyszkowitz

Franz Szyszkowitz, a partner at BLS Rechtsanwälte GmbH in Vienna, has been named Data Protection Lawyer of the Year in Austria at the 2024 Corporate INTL Global Awards. The award recognises his standing as a data protection and privacy adviser within one of Vienna's long-established full-service law firms.

Szyszkowitz practises from BLS Rechtsanwälte's offices on Kärntner Straße in the heart of Vienna's first district. The firm has been part of the Austrian legal landscape for decades and today brings together a substantial team of qualified attorneys across a wide spread of practice areas, from corporate and employment law to real estate, insurance, dispute resolution and data protection. Within that structure, Szyszkowitz leads on privacy and data protection matters, a field that has grown steadily in importance for Austrian and international businesses since the introduction of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation.

Data protection work of this kind typically spans the full lifecycle of how organisations collect, use and safeguard personal data. It includes advising on compliance programmes and governance, drafting privacy notices and data processing agreements, supporting organisations through data transfers and vendor arrangements, and guiding clients in their dealings with supervisory authorities. As a partner in a firm that acts for both individuals and corporations, Szyszkowitz is well placed to translate the technical requirements of the regulation into practical steps that fit each client's operations.

BLS Rechtsanwälte serves a broad client base that ranges from private individuals to corporations of all sizes, including international groups operating in sectors such as manufacturing, energy, insurance, telecommunications and consumer goods. Data protection questions arise across all of these industries, whether in the context of employee data, customer relationships, digital products or cross-border corporate transactions. Operating within a firm of this breadth allows Szyszkowitz to work alongside colleagues in adjacent disciplines, so that privacy advice can be integrated with employment, commercial or corporate matters rather than treated in isolation.

This collaborative, full-service setting is one of the practice's defining features. Clients facing a data protection issue rarely encounter it on its own; it often accompanies a new product launch, a corporate reorganisation, an employment dispute or a technology contract. Being embedded in a firm with deep benches in each of those areas means Szyszkowitz can offer counsel that reflects the wider legal and commercial context, an approach that resonates with the international clients the firm advises.

Recognition as Data Protection Lawyer of the Year in Austria highlights the growing prominence of privacy law within the Austrian market and Szyszkowitz's role in helping clients meet its demands. As data protection continues to shape how businesses handle information and technology, his practice at BLS Rechtsanwälte offers organisations a steady, experienced adviser on one of the most closely watched areas of modern compliance.