Jan P. Egger was born in Hornell, New York. He received his B.A. from the State University of New York at Geneseo after which he served in the United States Army Infantry. He  obtained his J.D. from the University of Minnesota, where he was an editor of the Law Review, and has practiced law since 1973. He worked as an Assistant County Attorney - criminal prosecutor in Buffalo, N.Y. until 1984, when he was hired by a plaintiff's personal injury firm in Rochester, N.Y. because of his reputation as a trial attorney.  Subsequently, he managed a legal services plan, where he engaged in a variety of legal matters.  His last position as an associate was with a firm which exclusively represented personal injury defendants.  In 1989, Mr. Egger joined the firm which had been started by his wife, Jo Anne Leegant, and the firm became Egger and Leegant.

Mr. Egger received a Martindale Hubbell peer review rating of BV distinguished 4.4 out of 5.