Milbank LLP Antitrust partner Fiona Schaeffer has been featured as a Law360 Competition/Antitrust MVP for 2025, one of just five practitioners recognized in the category.
In her interview with the publication, Fiona reflects on a year defined by highly complex, closely watched transactions, including representing U. S. Steel in its landmark $14.9 billion merger with Nippon Steel Corp., a matter she describes as not only her most significant achievement of the past year, but one of the most meaningful of her career. She noted that the deal involved a rare convergence of industrial innovation, global competition and foreign investment and community impact – particularly for steelmaking regions such as Pennsylvania’s Mon Valley, where the transaction was vital to securing the long-term future of the local steel-making community.
In addition to the U. S. Steel transaction, Law360 also highlighted her role in other notable matters, including representing LS Power as antitrust counsel in connection with the sale of its natural gas generation facilities and a commercial and industrial virtual power plant platform to NRG Energy Inc. in a cash and common stock transaction valued at approximately $12 billion, and advising SLB in its $7.8 billion acquisition of ChampionX Corp., where Fiona served alongside Antitrust partners Adam Di Vincenzo, who acted as lead antitrust counsel, and Grant Bermann.
Furthermore, Fiona discussed her contributions to the growth of Milbank’s Antitrust group since joining the firm in 2014 as its first antitrust partner in the United States. Today, the team has grown to five partners in the US and continues to expand its presence in the global competition landscape.
“We're building a really exciting team that I think provides more competition in what is already a very competitive marketplace," she noted. "We have a pretty unique offering. We are, I think, uniformly excellent at what we do, and most of all, we get along well.”
The Law360 profile goes on to explore Fiona’s path to antitrust, shaped by her background in economics and her interest in how markets operate at the intersection of law, policy and human behavior. She also emphasized that one of the most motivating aspects of her practice is the opportunity to mentor and collaborate with Milbank’s next generation of antitrust lawyers.
"There's a lot I can do to help them develop as lawyers, but I also love hearing what their feedback is," Fiona said. "They've got a lot to teach the more experienced lawyers, as well as vice versa. It's a two-way street and a relationship I really enjoy."
