Who We Are

Ed Barron

Ed Barron

Ed Barron brings significant public policy, trade association, corporate and judicial background to Lesher, Russell & Barron. Prior to joining the firm, Ed served as Vice President of Government Affairs and Legislative Counsel for the Air Transport Association, which represents all major U.S. passenger airline and air cargo carriers. In this capacity, he worked extensively on the reauthorization of FAA aviation programs, working with the Senate Commerce and Finance Committees, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as well as the FAA.

Ed spent twenty years in the public sector at the U.S. Senate as Deputy Chief Counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Chief of Staff and earlier legal counsel of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. Ed worked on a diverse range of issues while serving on those three Committees including: international trade; rural banking; agriculture; organic foods; pharmaceutical medicines; broadcast and satellite television and radio; humanitarian medical and food aid; patents; telecommunications; copyrights; competition policy; commodity futures and derivatives; USDA nutrition programs; FCC issues; interstate compacts; property rights and eminent domain; highway, transit, and railroad transportation policy; and environment and conservation policies. Ed has also served as a U.S. representative at several World Trade Organization Ministerial Conferences and at both World Food Summits and worked on a number of trade issues involving agriculture, environmental policies, conservation, competition policy, food safety, food security, and intellectual property.

Ed's career in Washington began in the Office of the General Counsel of USDA where he handled federal litigation, drafted regulations, reviewed legislation, and acted as a hearing officer regarding interstate commerce in agricultural products. Ed is an attorney and a member of the bar of the District of Columbia.

Ed is on the Board of Directors of World Hunger Year (WHY), a non-profit charity and leading advocator for innovative, community-based solutions to hunger and poverty. WHY challenges society to confront these problems by advancing models that create self-reliance by offering job training, education and after school programs, increasing access to housing and healthcare, emergency food assistance, providing microcredit and entrepreneurial opportunities and improving access to nutritious foods. WHY was founded in 1975 by the late singer- songwriter Harry Chapin. WHY operates the National Hunger Hotline under contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A native of upstate New York, Ed currently resides in Chevy Chase, Maryland with his wife, Bonnie Luken. Ed and Bonnie have two sons, James and Stephen.