Jan Baran is a Partner at Holtzman Vogel and has decades of experience as one of the nation’s preeminent election law attorneys. He advises clients on all aspects of election and political law including federal, state, and local campaign finance laws, government ethics requirements, and lobbying laws. Jan is also an experienced litigator who has argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court of the United States and U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals.

Chambers and Partners has described Jan as “the dean of campaign finance.”

Clerkship/Government Experience
  • Special Counsel, Virginia Office of the Attorney General (2005)
  • U.S. Ambassador, World Administrative Radio Conference (1990-1992)
  • General Counsel, Republican National Committee (1989-1992)
  • General Counsel, George H.W. Bush for President (1986-1989)
  • National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, 454 U.S. 27 (1981)
  • Federal Election Commission v. Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee, 533 U.S. 431 (2001)
  • McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
  • Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
  • Federal Election Commission Advisory Opinion 2018-11 (Microsoft Corporation)
  • Trustee, Ohio Wesleyan University Board of Trustees (2014-present)
  • Member of international observer delegations to numerous elections around the world, including the Philippines, Nicaragua, Hungary, and Pakistan
  • Member, American Law Institute
  • Member, President’s Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform (1989)
  • Top ranking in Political Law, Chambers USA
  • Best Lawyers in America, 2025
  • Lifetime Achievement Acknowledgment by Washingtonian Magazine, 2022
  • Washington, DC Super Lawyers, 2007 - 2024
  • Author, American Bar Association's The Election Law Primer for Corporations (six editions)
  • Co-chair, Practising Law Institute’s annual Corporate Political Activities conference
  • Served as a legal analyst for ABC News during the 2000 Florida recount.
  • Published articles in law journals as well as in the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today

Related Practice Areas
  • Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D., 1973
    • Patrick Wilson Scholar
  • Ohio Wesleyan University, B.A., 1970
  • Tennessee Bar (Inactive)
  • District of Columbia Bar
  • Supreme Court of the United States
Jan Baran