Jagan Nicholas Ranjan was sworn in as a district judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on August 1, 2019.

Judge Ranjan started his legal career serving as the Simon Karas fellow with the Ohio Solicitor General, which was a one-year fellowship in which he assisted in the briefing of the State’s major appeals.

Judge Ranjan then served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Deborah L. Cook of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

For the next 14 years, Judge Ranjan practiced at the international law firm of K&L Gates LLP in its Pittsburgh headquarters, first as an associate and then as an equity partner. Judge Ranjan’s practice focused on complex commercial litigation, appellate litigation, and domestic arbitration.

While in private practice, Judge Ranjan was recognized by Chambers USA, Pennsylvania Super Lawyers, the Litigation Counsel of America, the Pittsburgh Leadership Conference, and the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity. But his most prized honor was twice accepting the Fred Rogers Good Neighbor Award (from Mrs. Rogers) for the recruitment of middle school mentors.

Judge Ranjan is a graduate of Grove City College (summa cum laude) and the University of Michigan Law School (cum laude). In law school, he served as a Note Editor of the Michigan Law Review. In his spare time, Judge Ranjan is a mentor to middle school students, a rec league basketball player, and an accomplished violinist and composer.