John M. Schmidt

Merger Control, Foreign Direct Investment/National Security Reviews

John secures merger clearances from the UK Competition and Markets Authority and the European Commission as well as coordinating strategy for multijurisdictional clearances worldwide. This increasingly involves leading the foreign investment and national security workstream on cross-border transactions, advising under the UK National Security and Investment Act, the German AWV, and coordinating filings across EU Member State regimes and further afield. His work spans defence, critical infrastructure, synthetic biology and other sensitive technology. He manages regulatory, political, and deal-timetable risk as a single integrated strategy. John is a frequent speaker on FDI and national security developments.

Conduct and Investigations

John has advised on pricing at the sharpest end of enforcement with a particular focus on the pharma and life sciences space: reverse payment patent settlements at EU and UK level, and excessive pricing and restrictive agreement investigations. He also advises on parallel trade and supply chain design and challenges public procurement tenders for clients. In retail and consumer goods, John advises on pricing, distribution and online strategy, and has represented retailers and suppliers in various UK investigations.

Litigation

John acts in complex competition disputes, including follow-on damages claims before the Competition Appeal Tribunal. He currently represents various clients in respect of their pan-European damages claims arising from the EU trucks cartel claims in the Dutch and UK courts.

Recognition

John is consistently ranked as a leading lawyer by Chambers UK, Chambers Europe, Chambers Global and The Legal 500. Chambers UK describes him as “very knowledgeable, easy to work with and adept at explaining complicated issues.”

Clients said to Chambers 2027:

• “John Schmidt is a pleasure to work with. He is very knowledgeable and client-service oriented.”
• “He is very practical and pragmatic, and is good at explaining the law but he also understands market dynamics so we can implement his advice.”
• “We had a difficult situation where he expertly worked through it. He is really efficient and very positive both when everything is going well and on the difficult matters, anticipating what is going to happen and taking steps.”
• “He has a wealth of knowledge about cases.”
• “John is a really excellent lawyer who is easy to work with, pragmatic and really gets to the bottom of an issue.”