Jonathan Biran (born 1966) is an American lawyer from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

who serves as a justice of the

Supreme Court of Maryland The Supreme Court of Maryland is the state supreme court, highest court of the U.S. state of Maryland. Its name was changed on December 14, 2022, from the Maryland Court of Appeals, after a voter-approved change to the state constitution. The cou ...

Early life and education

Biran was born in 1966 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He received his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

and his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (Stanford Law or SLS) is the law school of Stanford University, a private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world. Stanford La ...

Career

Biran served as a law clerk for Judge

David F. Levi David Frank Levi (born August 29, 1951) is a United States jurist and former Dean of the Duke University School of Law. From 1990 to 2007, he was a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of California The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California (in case citations, E.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appeal ...

. From 1994 to 1995, he was an Associate with

Skadden Arps Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1948, the firm consistently ranks among the top U.S. law firms by revenue. The company is known for its wo ...

. From 2000 to 2006, he served as an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

for the

District of Connecticut The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (in case citations, D. Conn.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Connecticut. The court has offices in Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven. Appeals ...

and he also served as an Assistant United States from 2006 to 2013 under

Rod Rosenstein Rod Jay Rosenstein (; born January 13, 1965) is an American attorney who served as the 37th United States deputy attorney general from April 2017 until May 2019. Prior to his appointment, he served as a United States attorney for the District ...

in the District of Maryland working on fraud and public corruption matters, he served Chief of the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office from 2010 to 2013. From 2013 to 2017, he was a Partner with Biran Kelly. Prior to his appointment to the court in 2019, he was a partner with

Baker Donelson Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz P.C. is a large U.S. law firm and lobbying group with offices in the Southeastern United States and Washington, D.C. '' Fortune'' has selected Baker Donelson as one of the 100 Best Companies to Wor ...

where he practiced both criminal defense and appellate law.

Appointment to the Supreme Court of Maryland

In September 2019, it was reported that Biran was one of ten lawyers who applied for a vacant seat on the Supreme Court of Maryland left by the retirement of Clayton Greene Jr. On December 9, 2019, Governor

Larry Hogan Lawrence Joseph Hogan Jr. (born May 25, 1956) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 62nd governor of Maryland since 2015. A moderate member of the Republican Party, he was secretary of appointments under Maryland governor Bo ...

announced his appointment of Biran to be a Justice of the

. He was sworn into office on December 16, 2019.

Personal life

Jonathan and his wife, Sarah, married on May 27, 2001. The wedding was officiated by Judge David F. Levi.

References

External links

* 1966 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers Assistant United States Attorneys Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Judges of the Maryland Court of Appeals Maryland lawyers Lawyers from New York City Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom people Stanford Law School alumni Swarthmore College alumni {{Maryland-state-judge-stub