During his legal clerkship at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court of Hamburg, Germany, he attended the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer and worked for the German Chancellery. He holds a doctorate in law from the Universität Hamburg and he wrote his dissertation on legal bases of European agencies in relation to the vertical separation of powers. During his PhD studies as well as during his legal studies at Heidelberg University and Universität Hamburg, Nicolas was a fellow of the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation.