eGovern­ment: Stuttgart office of GvW brings specia­list Dr Thomas Schuster on board

With Dr Thomas Schuster, GvW Graf von Westphalen now has an interface between public law and IT/data protection law. From the middle of March the specialist for public data and information law, who hails from the advisory practice of PwC Legal, will boost the law firm’s new Stuttgart office as partner.

Having worked at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the German Federal Constitutional Court [Bundesverfassungsgericht], Dr Schuster has specialised in public data and information law. The subject of public sector and government digitalisation has accompanied the native from Stuttgart throughout his legal career. For example, Dr Schuster recently provided legal advice to a large federal state on its implementation of a state-wide, digital education platform. The focus areas of his work include communication and public image of government in the digital age, legal certainty of informational cooperation schemes such as data platforms and in the context of smart city projects, ensuring data protection and information security in eGovernment, as well as IT security in networked government.

“By hiring Dr Schuster we killed two birds with one stone. His expertise at the interface of public law and IT/data protection law is of hugely important in advisory work. This is especially evident when it comes to handling large IT projects. We’re delighted to have Dr Schuster on board, not least given the important intermediary role he can play for our clients here”, said Christof Kleinmann and Dr Robert Theissen, speaking with reference to their new partner. “At the same time we have also succeeded in making a high-profile hire for our Public Law practice in Stuttgart”.

In addition to the subject of eGovernment, Dr Schuster works above all in the area of classic administrative (litigation) law and constitutional law. Working out of southern Germany, he will support the law firm’s recently awarded Public Law practice group in this area.

With regard to his move, Dr Schuster said: “With its strong teams in public commercial law and IT/data protection, GvW offers an ideal environment for me to fully leverage my advisory work both for the public sector and private enterprises. Effective digitalisation of government is one of today’s most important goals, and at GvW our joint expertise will enable us to provide the legal advice needed to help achieve this successfully.”