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Martin Kilgus
Principal Counsel

Martin Kilgus

Rechtsanwalt

Languages
  • German
  • English
Social media

With a focus on the automotive, energy, and finance sectors, Martin Kilgus advises technology-driven businesses on drafting and negotiating complex IT contracts as well as software licensing and outsourcing projects. He supports them in launching innovative products and data-driven business models in full legal compliance and ensuring their ongoing legal protection. Martin also develops contractual frameworks for the supply and maintenance of connected devices, particularly in the energy and mobility sectors, and regularly advises on IT and data protection matters in M&A transactions.

Another key area of his work is advising on GDPR compliance, including structuring group-wide data flows, safeguarding personal data within complex corporate environments, and supporting data protection compliance projects from the initial assessment through to implementation. He also advises on the legal framework for using data under the Data Act and on strategies for accessing and utilising data. Martin’s expertise is furthermore sought after in projects leveraging AI, such as the integration of smart software solutions, mobile apps and connected devices.

Martin joined CMS in 2016. Alongside his legal practice, he regularly speaks on legal issues relating to Industry 4.0 and contributed for several years to the “Digital Legal Counsel” programme run by the German Institute for Legal Departments and Corporate Lawyers.

Relevant experience

Automotive and Smart Mobility

  • Operators of e-charging infrastructure | On implementing contractual provisions governing data access for suppliers, customers and cooperation partners
  • Automobile manufacturers | On the introduction of vehicle-related digital products, including companion apps, payment systems, software updates for infotainment and control units, as well as on data management
  • Automobile manufacturers | Establishing a group-wide contractual framework for a data marketplace for the licensing and monetisation of vehicle data
  • Automotive manufacturer | On the data protection aspects of a sales platform for aftermarket services
  • Automotive manufacturer | On setting up a smart charging ecosystem with an end customer app, price-controlled charging and planned vehicle-to-load, vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid functions

Technoloy and IT law

  • Software-Hersteller für Mobilgeräte-Anwendungen und Backend-Infrastruktur – Laufende rechtliche Unterstützung bei digitalen Produktentwicklungen; Gestaltung von AGB, Begleitung streitiger Verfahren.
  • Konsumgüterhersteller für Haus- und Gartenprodukte – Gestaltung und Verhandlung eines Betriebs- und Wartungsvertrags für IT-Systeme.
  • Smart-Meter-Hersteller – Beratung zu Softwareentwicklungs- und Wartungsverträgen sowie Systemlieferverträgen unter Berücksichtigung des Messstellen-Betriebsgesetzes und der regulatorischen Anforderungen und an den Smart-Meter-Rollout.
  • International tätiges Logistikunternehmen – Verhandlung von Outsourcingverträgen für Lagerverwaltungs-, ERP- und geschäftsprozess-spezifischer Spezialsoftwarelösungen.
  • Internationales Softwarehaus – Vertragsgestaltung für die Entwicklung und den Betrieb eines Mobile-Banking-Systems.

Sales and CRM

  • Fashion brand | On the data protection aspects of a group-wide customer loyalty programme in the end customer business
  • Consumer goods distributor | Drafting a software project agreement for the implementation of standard software, customer-specific adaptations and interfaces for the finance department

Pharma and healthcare

  • Integrated healthcare provider | On data protection requirements based on the GDPR and German social security law
  • Internationally operating pharmaceutical group | On a group-wide GDPR project, including gap analysis of selected processes and definition of the measures required for GDPR compliance
  • US pharmaceutical company | Data protection advice on clinical trials, with a focus on consent forms, responsibility allocation between trial stakeholders and data processing by CROs and sponsors
  • German pharmaceutical company | On cloud-based IT solutions for sensitive health data, including legal structuring and data protection safeguards for international data transfers
  • Danish medical device manufacturer | On data protection and confidentiality obligations in the direct supply of medical devices to patients

Finance and insurance

  • NORD/LB | On a major project to redesign the bank’s management and control framework, including licensing of software for on-premise, private, and public cloud environments
  • Major German health insurance company | On a legal dispute over the correct licensing of SAP software in relation to the integration of third-party systems
  • Ten institutions within a group of institutions | On technical data protection issues in the development and introduction of an innovative app-based current account
  • Internationally operating industrial insurer | Revision of outsourcing and operating agreements for the outsourcing and operation of the main data centre
  • Consumer goods distributor | Drafting of a project agreement for the implementation of standard software and interfaces in finance

Corporate law and transactions

  • Numerous IT-related corporate transactions | Drafting transitional services agreements to maintain IT operations until complete integration/system replacement and rights transfer agreements as well as IT and data protection review in the due diligence process
  • Energy supplier | On the planned sale of the e-mobility division; corporate restructuring in preparation for the sale of the business, including the establishment of a dedicated software development company
  • International energy group | On the acquisition of a competitor's electric vehicle charging business (asset deal), including contract network transfer and negotiation of a complex transitional services agreement

Publications

  • Datenschutzfragen der Registermodernisierung, Whitepaper von CMS und Accenture, Co-Autor, June 2025, https://cms.law/de/deu/publication/cloudloesungen-fuer-die-registermodernisierung-rechtssicher-foederal-effizient
  • Kommentierung des Art. 9 DSGVO, in: Freund/Schmidt/Heep/Roschek – Praxis-Kommentar DSGVO, Deutscher Fachverlag, 1. Auflage 2022, https://www.juris.de/r3/document/jpk-PKDSGVO-TITEL
  • Update zum TTDSG: Was ändert das Telekommunikation-Telemedien-Datenschutz-Gesetz und was sollte ich nun machen?, Blog-Beitrag, 12. January 2022, https://www.webnetz.de/know-how/blog/blog-interview-zum-ttdsg
  • Verarbeitung personenbezogener Kollateraldaten unter der DS-GVO, Tagungsbeitrag, DSRI Herbstakademie 2020, DSRITB 2020, 337
  • Datenschutzbußgelder im Bereich Healthcare, Beitrag zum CMS GDPR Enforcementtracker Report, jährlich seit 2020, https://cms.law/en/deu/publication/gdpr-enforcement-tracker-report
  • Dynamische IP-Adressen als personenbezogene Daten, Urteilsbesprechung zu BGH, Urt. v. 16.05.2017, Az. VI ZR 135/13, Legal Tribune Online, 16.05.2017, https://www.lto.de/recht/hintergruende/h/bgh-urteil-vizr13513-dynamische-ip-adressen-personenbezogene-daten-speicherung-internetseiten-bundesrepublik
  • Abgrenzung verschiedener Provider-Verträge, Blog-Beitrag, 3. May 2017 (https://www.cmshs-bloggt.de/tmc/it-recht/provider-vertraege-asp-vertrag/)
  • Haftungsfragen im Kontext der Digital Economy – Sorgfaltsanforderungen an Hersteller und Betreiber autonomer Systeme, buj Digitalisierungsstudie Digital Economy und Recht, 9. November 2016

Memberships & Roles

  • German Bar Association
  • Alumni of Bucerius Law School, Hamburg
  • Mentor in the "Next Commerce Accelerator" mentoring programme, Hamburg

Lectures list

  • Data protection issues in register modernisation, lecture at the Smart Country Conven-tion 2025 together with Accenture, 1 October 2025 in Berlin
  • Speaker on multiple occasions on "The German Accessibility Act (BFSG)", webinars in cooperation with the online marketing agency webnetz, 26 June 2025 and 9 November 2023
  • Speaker on multiple occasions on "Liability issues of autonomous systems and selected legal issues of blockchain technology", diruj training course "Digital Inhouse Counsel", 23 April 2024, 6 December 2023, 22 March 2023, 8 December 2022 (each in Frankfurt am Main), 16 March 2022 (hybrid), 1 December 2021, 24 March 2021, 11 November 2020 (each as a webinar), 10 March 2020 (in Munich), 13 November 2019 (in Frankfurt) and at the buj training course "Digital Inhouse Counsel", 15 May 2019 (in Frankfurt) and 20 February 2019 (in Düsseldorf)
  • Speaker on multiple occasions on "Legal issues in online marketing", webinars in coop-eration with the online marketing agency webnetz, 15 November 2022, 8 March 2022, 21 January 2021, 23 April 2020
  • DGRI Best Practice Workshop "Contracts for system development and data use be-tween IT providers and machine builders: Negotiating and designing", DSRI Autumn Academy 2022, Hanover, 15 September 2022
  • Data protection know-how for non-profits, webinar in cooperation with Haus des Stiftens, 28 May 2020
  • The use of cookies, tracking & tools in online marketing, presentation at the Online Marketing Breakfast, Business Club Hamburg, 25 February 2020
  • Data protection – What is still allowed in customer communication?, OMR Legal Up-date, Hamburg, 28 October 2019
  • Data protection know-how for website operators, webinar by the business magazine "Impulse", 16 September 2019
  • The future of customer communication: Between new technologies and data protec-tion, buj Digitalisierungs-Summit 2019, Berlin, 11 September 2019
  • Cloud- and Platform Licensing, lecture at the International Summer Program of Bu-cerius Law School, Hamburg, 10 July 2019
  • IP and IT for startups, lecture at the startup accelerator "Blackprint Booster", Frankfurt am Main, 8 May 2019 and 10 September 2019
  • Digital contract conclusions – Legal framework according to the eIDAS Regulation and practical use with DocuSign & Co, internal training, 19 October 2018
  • Legal issues of remote monitoring and remote control in maritime shipping, liability and data ownership in the area of "Maritime 4.0", Maritime Breakfast, Hamburg, 24 November 2016

Education

  • 2014: Second state examination in law
  • 2012 - 2014: Trainee lawyer in Hamburg
  • 2010 - 2012: Coach and arbitratror, Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna und Hong Kong
  • Special English-language training for lawyers
  • 2010 - 2012: Research assistant to Prof. Dr. Karsten Thorn, Chair of Civil Law, Private International and International Commercial Law, and Comparative Law
  • 2010: First state examination in law
  • 2004 - 2010: Law studies in Hamburg and Cambridge, UK
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