Jagan Nicholas Ranjan (born 1978) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Education

Ranjan earned his Bachelor of Arts, ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'', from Grove City College 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 ...

, ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'', from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was a note editor of the '' Michigan Law Review''.

Legal career

He started his legal career by serving as a law clerk to Judge

Deborah L. Cook Deborah Louise Cook (born February 8, 1952) is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, based in Akron, Ohio. She served as a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court from 1995 to 2003. Backgrou ...

of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Upon graduation from law school, Ranjan served as a Simon Karas Fellow with the

Ohio Attorney General The Ohio Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state, State of Ohio in the United States. The office is filled by general election, held every four years. The Ohio Attorney General is Republican Dave Yost. History The office ...

's Office, working with the State Solicitor General on the office's major appeals. From 2005 to 2019, Ranjan was an equity partner in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania office of

K&L Gates K&L Gates LLP is an American multinational corporation law firm based in the United States, with international offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. Its namesake firms are Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, a Pittsburgh-ba ...

, where he litigated commercial, energy, and

appellate In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

matters. While at K&L Gates, he served on the firm's global pro bono and diversity committees, and directed his office's pro bono program—which was awarded "pro bono law firm of the year" in 2017 by the local bar association. He is active in the community, serving on legal diversity and symphony boards, as well as serving as a mentor to local middle school students.

Awards and recognition

Ranjan has been recognized by Chambers USA as one of the top commercial litigators in Pennsylvania multiple times, and has been a fellow with the Litigation Counsel of America and the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity.

Federal judicial service

On July 13, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Ranjan to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. On July 24, 2018, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Donald Trump nominated Ranjan to the seat vacated by Judge Kim R. Gibson, who assumed senior status on June 3, 2016. On November 13, 2018, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On January 3, 2019, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate, which provides that nominations not acted upon during a session are considered to have expired. On January 23, 2019, President Trump announced his intent to renominate Ranjan for a federal judgeship. His nomination was sent to the Senate later that day. On February 7, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 18–4 vote. On July 9, 2019, the Senate voted 83–15 to invoke cloture on his nomination. On July 10, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 80–14 vote. He received judicial commission on July 12, 2019. In August 2020, Ranjan ordered the Trump campaign to produce evidence of voter fraud in Pennsylvania by Friday, August 14. The Trump campaign must answer questions from Democratic groups, or admit to having no proof of election fraud. A hearing about the evidence was set for late September. On August 23, 2020, Ranjan issued a stay on the Trump campaign's lawsuit, pending the result of a similar state-level lawsuit. On October 10, 2020, in the case of ''Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. v. Boockvar'', No. 2:20-cv-966 (W.D. Pa.), Ranjan granted judgment in favor of the Secretary of State of Pennsylvania,

Kathy Boockvar Kathryn Boockvar (, born October 23, 1968) is an American attorney and politician who served as the secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from January 5, 2019 to February 5, 2021. She was appointed to the position by Governor Tom Wolf. Bo ...

, and denied the Trump campaign's claims of voter fraud and allowed ballot dropboxes to remain in service. In his decision, Ranjan concluded that "the plain language of the ennsylvania StateElection Code imposes no requirement for signature comparison for mail-in and absentee ballots and applications," a reasoning that was approvingly cited by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on 23 October.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, No. 149 MM 2020. ''In Re: November 3, 2020 General Election''. SUBMITTED: October 16, 2020. OPINION: Justice Todd. DECIDED: October 23, 202
. http://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Supreme/out/J-113-2020mo%20-%20104584871117842321.pdf?cb=1
/ref>

References

External links