THOMAS BAUMGARTNER

Background

Thomas holds a Master’s degree in Business Law (LL.M.) from the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), including an exchange semester at Uppsala University. He is a certified Compliance Officer and fluent in German and English. He began his career in Auditing at KPMG and in Forensic Services at PwC, which gave him a sound understanding of financial and business processes that still shapes his approach to fraud and corruption matters. He then spent several years in Dispute Resolution and White-Collar Crime at Binder Grösswang and passed the Austrian bar exam with distinction in 2018. As a manager at the compliance consultancy Pohlmann & Company, based in Munich and Frankfurt, he led cross-border investigations and international compliance projects. He was also a member of the Independent Compliance Monitor team appointed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC in an FCPA matter. Back in Austria, he worked as Head of Compliance at Haslinger / Nagele and as Counsel in the Dispute Resolution and Compliance practice at Fellner Wratzfeld & Partner before joining petsche pollak in November 2026. Thomas is a certified Compliance Officer and is recognised by Legal 500 EMEA (2026) as a Recommended Lawyer.

Areas of expertise

Drawing on his interdisciplinary background, Thomas combines in-depth legal expertise with hands-on experience as a compliance consultant on international projects, a combination rarely found in the Austrian market. He advises companies as well as their management and supervisory boards on designing and enhancing Compliance Management Systems and on meeting an ever-growing range of regulatory requirements, including in the area of ESG. In Dispute Resolution and White-Collar Crime, he handles matters at the intersection of civil and criminal law, with a particular focus on directors’ liability as well as supply-chain, shareholder and post-M&A disputes. In addition, he leads national and cross-border Internal Investigations into allegations such as workplace misconduct, corruption, fraud and breach of trust, and supports clients in the proceedings that follow.

Lectures, speeches and publications

Thomas teaches Legal Compliance and Internal Investigations at the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt. He is the co-author of Interne Kontrollsysteme und Compliance für Betriebe (Austrian Standards), a practical guide to internal control systems and compliance for companies, and of the Handbuch Kreislaufwirtschaft (Linde Verlag). In addition, he regularly speaks at conferences and seminars, appears on podcasts and publishes in leading media and professional journals on Compliance, ESG and Dispute Resolution.