For the past decade, Mr. Baran has worked to advance the rights of working people. His practice focuses on representing workers in wage theft claims and claims of discrimination, in both class actions and individual cases (in court or arbitration). He has represented workers in a wide range of industries, including nurses, entertainers, and building service workers. He also advises workers about severance negotiations/agreements, non-compete provisions and other employment contract provisions, and other legal issues, and represents workers and organizations in appellate litigation.
Before joining Katz Banks Kumin, Mr. Baran worked as an attorney at Kakalec Law PLLC, a New York City-based employment law firm, and was a Skadden Fellow and Senior Staff Attorney at the National Employment Law Project, where he worked to address the growth in employer-imposed forced arbitration provisions that require workers to give up the right to have their claims heard before a judge and jury. Mr. Baran has written frequently about forced arbitration and related legal issues, has been quoted in publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Law360, and Bloomberg Law, and has been interviewed on Good Day New York and NY1 Noticias. He is also a Board member of the National Employment Lawyers Association/New York affiliate.
Mr. Baran received his J.D. from New York University School of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the NYU Review of Law & Social Change and a Root-Tilden-Kern Public Interest Scholar. Mr. Baran clerked for United States District Judge Victor A. Bolden (District of Connecticut) and United States Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy (Eastern District of New York). He received his B.A. in American Studies from Yale University and worked as a union political organizer after college.
Mr. Baran is a member of the New York, New Jersey, DC, and Connecticut bars, and speaks Spanish and French.
