Dr. Matthias Pendl

Main Fields of Research

Civil Law, Corporate Law, Banking and Capital Markets Law, Comparative Law

Vita

Matthias Pendl studied law at the University of Graz, where he completed his Magister iuris in 2013 as the best in his class. From April 2013 to May 2014, he worked as an assistant under Professor Dr Peter Bydlinski at the University of Graz. From June 2014 to February 2017, he was a research associate under Professor Dr Dr hc Dr hc Holger Fleischer at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law. He received his doctorate (Doctor iuris) with distinction from the University of Graz in 2017. He studied and taught law at Graz until the end of that year while completing his legal traineeship at the Higher Regional Court of Graz.

His dissertation, “Die Verjährung von Schadenersatzansprüchen gegen Organmitglieder und Abschlussprüfer” [The prescription of damage claims against board members and auditors], won him a doctoral scholarship from the Heinrich Graf Hardegg’sche Foundation as well as multiple prizes, including the prestigious 2018 Austrian Bankers’ Association Prize.

After entering private practice as an associate at a multinational law firm, Matthias Pendl returned to the Institute in 2018 as a senior research fellow under Institute director Holger Fleischer. He prepared his 2022 monograph “Emojis im (Privat-)Recht” [Emojis in (private) law] with support from the Hamburgische Wissenschaftliche Stiftung. He submitted his habilitation monograph “Vertragliche Erwerbsvorrechte” [Contractual rights of first refusal] to Bucerius Law School in June 2026. While affiliated with the Institute he also conducted research at Cambridge and Sapienza Università di Roma.

He will take over as interim professor of Civil Law and German, European, and International Business Law at the University of Leipzig in winter semester 2026/27.