Dr. Michael M. Pachinger, CIPP/E

Dr. Michael M. Pachinger, CIPP/E, is a partner at SAXINGER Rechtsanwalts GmbH, practising from the firm's Wels office in Austria since 2007. He has been named Data Protection Lawyer of the Year in Austria at the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2025, a recognition that reflects his position as one of the country's leading authorities on privacy and data protection law.

Pachinger's practice centres on data protection, intellectual property and IT law, with particular emphasis on privacy matters, e-commerce, telecommunications and the drafting of contracts in an international context. He advises domestic and foreign clients and is able to work directly in German, English, French and Spanish, a linguistic range that suits the cross-border nature of much modern data protection work and reflects his role as founding president of the Austrian-Spanish Lawyers' Association.

His credentials in the field are notably deep. He holds the CIPP/E certification of the International Association of Privacy Professionals, and was among the first Austrian legal experts accredited to assess IT products and services under the EuroPriSe European Privacy Seal. Since 2022 he has been a member of the Support Pool of Experts of the European Data Protection Board, contributing his expertise at the European level, and he is also a certified European trademark and design attorney. This blend of qualifications allows him to advise not only on compliance but on the technical assessment and certification of systems and services.

SAXINGER itself is a substantial Austrian firm with offices in Graz, Linz, Salzburg, Wels and Vienna, and forms part of the international Schindhelm network spanning thirteen countries under the promise of "law. tax. clarity." That platform gives Pachinger's specialist data protection work the support of a full-service, internationally connected practice, so that privacy questions can be handled alongside the corporate, commercial and IT matters that frequently accompany them.

Beyond his client work, Pachinger is a university lecturer and an instructor at the Lawyers' Academy, and a recognised name in the leading legal directories. His standing among Austria's top data protection lawyers, allied to his European-level engagement and his practical, certification-focused approach, is precisely what the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2025 honour is designed to acknowledge. Clients facing the growing complexity of data protection regulation turn to him for authoritative, practical and internationally informed counsel.