Liability risks for executives are increasing significantly: New regulatory requirements such as NIS-2, CSRD, and the Supply Chain Act are expanding the responsibilities of managing
KPMG Law Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH (KPMG Law) is strengthening its Frankfurt office with the appointment of François Heynike as Partner as of December 1, 2021.
François Heynike has years of experience in advising national and international companies on complex IT and technology projects including IT outsourcing and global data protection projects. He advises numerous companies and banks on all data protection and IT law issues as well as on all digitalization topics. During his previous legal practice, he also advised on transactions, IPOs and financings with a focus on the digital environment. François Heynike joins from Ashurst LLP in Frankfurt, where he was Counsel to the Digital Economy Group and responsible for IT Law in Germany since 2017. Previously, he worked for GÖRG in the area of IT and data protection law.
Together with François Heynike, Leonie Schönhagen, with whom François Heynike has already worked at Ashurst since 2018, joins KPMG Law’s IT and Data Protection practice as Manager.
François Heynike will assume responsibility for the Technology, Media & Telecommunications sector when he joins the company. Together with other teams of KPMG Law – among others from the advisory fields of Technology Law, Legal Process & Technology and Financial Services – François Heynike will support clients with practical, highly specialized and multidisciplinary legal advice.
The advisory fields of IT and data protection law are significant growth areas and declared focus areas of KPMG Law. With the current addition of François Heynike and Leonie Schönhagen and their extensive experience in advising on complex IT and technology projects, KPMG Law is further expanding this advisory area – currently a team of 20. In particular, François Heynike will work closely with the existing team around
Dr. Anna-Kristine Wipper
work together. Dr. Anna-Kristine Wipper is a partner responsible for IP law at the Berlin office.
At the interface of legal and business expertise as well as technological know-how, KPMG Law thus offers comprehensive legal advice that goes beyond what traditional law firms can provide.
KPMG Law
© 2026 KPMG Law Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH, associated with KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, a public limited company under German law and a member of the global KPMG organisation of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Limited, a Private English Company Limited by Guarantee. All rights reserved. For more details on the structure of KPMG’s global organisation, please visit https://home.kpmg/governance.
KPMG International does not provide services to clients. No member firm is authorised to bind or contract KPMG International or any other member firm to any third party, just as KPMG International is not authorised to bind or contract any other member firm.
