John Schmidt

John Schmidt is a partner in the Chicago-based international law firm of Mayer Brown LLP. In recent years his practice has focused heavily on large-scale transactions involving U.S. infrastructure, including the path breaking 2005 lease of the Chicago Skyway, the first privatization of major U.S. infrastructure (for which he was named �Dealmaker of the Year� by the American Lawyer). In 2010 he was recognized by the Financial Times as one of ten �innovative American lawyers� for his work in pioneering new structures for the financing of U.S. infrastructure.He has represented states, cites and private entities in a wide variety of major infrastructure transactions, including the Government of Puerto Rico in the long-term lease of the San Juan Airport, the first privatization of a major U.S. airport; the State of Indiana in the long-term lease of the Indiana Toll Road for $3.8 billion, the largest infrastructure transaction in U.S. history; and the City of Chicago in the proposed lease of Chicago�s Midway Airport. From 1994 to 1997 he was the Associate Attorney General of the United States, overseeing all aspects of the civil representation of the federal government, as well as the work of the Civil Rights, Antitrust, Tax and Environmental Divisions at the Justice Department.Prior to becoming Associate Attorney General, he served from 1983 to 1994 as Ambassador and Chief U.S. Negotiator for the Uruguay Round of world trade talks under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which concluded the largest and most comprehensive trade agreement in world history in April 1994.