Bret Baker works in Pacific Legal Foundation’s Separation of Powers practice, where he defends individual liberty by advocating for constitutional structure—obliging the different branches of government to stay in their respective constitutional lanes.
Prior to joining PLF, Baker fought government overreach as a Legal Fellow at The Buckeye Institute, drafting amicus briefs in state and federal court, including the Supreme Court of the United States. He also served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, conducting civil investigations and helping to implement and administer new regulatory systems.
A triple Buckeye, Baker received B.S., M.S., and J.D. degrees from The Ohio State University. As a law student, he was Executive Articles Editor and Managing Editor on the Ohio State Law Journal, where his student Note on retrospective review of agency rules was selected for print publication. He also served as president of The Federalist Society at The Ohio State University.
Bret’s dedication to the virtues of limited government crystalized when he first read Henry David Thoreau, and he has also been particularly influenced by the works of Jonah Goldberg, Thomas Sowell, Yuval Levin, James Q. Wilson, Walter Berns, and Justice Antonin Scalia.
When not at work, you will find him living deliberately, wandering Ohio’s nature trails and training for his next marathon. He enjoys exploring state and national parks, seeing Lord Huron in concert, and cheering on his University of Dayton Flyers and Ohio State Buckeyes.
Bret is a member of the bar only in the state of Ohio.