Noah J. Hanft

Noah J. Hanft is an independent arbitrator and mediator recognized globally for his ability to find the most effective and efficient ways to resolve all manner of disputes. His career experiences as an advocate, a neutral, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of a leading global dispute resolution organization have provided him with a unique perspective and deep understanding of dispute resolution.

Mr. Hanft served as General Counsel of MasterCard Worldwide for 13 years. In addition to overseeing all legal and regulatory matters, he had responsibility for public policy, compliance, and government regulations and served as Corporate Secretary. During his tenure, he navigated the company through a host of legal and regulatory challenges, negotiating resolutions of a vast array of disputes, including multiple class actions and commercial, intellectual property, and employment disputes. He also gained a reputation as a pragmatic business lawyer, successfully negotiating many commercial transactions, acquisitions, and joint ventures. Mr. Hanft was an early adopter of mediation and personally mediated settlements of many of the company’s major business conflicts. He led the strategy that transformed the structure of MasterCard from a not-for-profit association to a well established and highly regarded public company and personally handled the negotiations between stakeholders around the world to secure approval for the company’s highly successful IPO. This included managing the complex securities issues related to the structure of the transaction.

In 2012, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), after considering 3,500 nominations, named Mr. Hanft General Counsel of the Year. In presenting the award, the ACC quoted from one of the submissions in support of Mr. Hanft, which read: “ It is rare to see a General Counsel orchestrate the legal counseling of a multinational corporate giant with such a unique blend of Brooklyn street-smarts, rigorous legal acumen, realistic business judgement, and sense of humor. The strength and efficiency of MasterCard’s legal department is a testament to Noah Hanft’s leadership, vision and high ethical standards.” In recognition of his success as General Counsel, Mr. Hanft’s responsibilities grew to encompass many business functions including licensing, franchise development, information security, fraud prevention, philanthropy, and diversity.

Mr. Hanft’s enthusiasm for ADR led him to begin serving as a mediator in 2012, while still MasterCard’s General Counsel. That same passion for dispute resolution was a critical driver in Mr. Hanft’s decision to take on the leadership of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution ("CPR") as President and Chief Executive Officer. In this role, which he held from 2014 until July of 2019, Mr. Hanft led a globally recognized preeminent ADR provider and thought leader. During his tenure, the organization was widely recognized and awarded for innovation and development of best practices in both arbitration and mediation. Mr. Hanft is a frequent author and speaker on many topics related to arbitration, mediation, and the management of business conflict. For his leadership in encouraging the adoption of mediation, Mr. Hanft was honored in May of 2019 with the Sidney Lezak Award of Excellence by the International Academy of Mediators (IAM).

Mr. Hanft is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and is certified as a mediator by the Center for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR). He is an arbitrator and mediator on the CPR Panel of Distinguished Neutrals where he serves on the General Counsel, Financial Services, Employment and Trademark panels. Mr. Hanft also serves on the AAA Commercial Arbitration panel, is both a FINRA arbitrator and mediator, and is also on the NAM, Second Circuit, Southern District, New York and New York State Commercial Division Mediation panels. Mr. Hanft has successfully mediated a wide breadth of cases including commercial, employment, intellectual property, securities, and civil rights cases. Mr. Hanft also provides executive coaching services for general  counsels in affiliation with Barker Gilmore.

Mr. Hanft began his career as a trial attorney with the Legal Aid Society in New York City and served on the board of the Society for many years. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

• NYU School of Law , LL.M., 1982
• Brooklyn Law School , J.D., 1976, Brooklyn Journal of International Law, Executive Editor
• American University , B.A., Political Science, 1973

• Member National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals
• Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
• Member, Board of Directors, International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (“CPR”) 2014-2019
• Committee Chair, CPR Dispute Prevention Committee
• Member, Board of Directors, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, 2012-present
• Member of CPR’s Panel of Distinguished Neutrals as Arbitrator and Mediator -General Counsel, Financial Services, Trademark and Employment panels
• Member of American Arbitration Association, Commercial, Mediation and Employment Panels
• Member of FedArb Commercial Panel, 
• Member of NAM Panel of Neutrals 
• Member of roster of FINRA Arbitrators and Mediators
• Member of U.S. District Court, Southern District, N.Y. Mediation Panel
• Member of U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Mediation Panel
• Member of U.S. District Court, Eastern District, N.Y. Mediation and Arbitration Panels
• Member, N.Y.S. Commercial Division Mediation Panel
• Member, N.Y.S. County Lawyers Association, Mediation and Arbitration Panels
• Member, International Arbitration Club of New York
• Vice-Chair, N.Y.S. Bar Association, Dispute Resolution Section
• Chair, N.Y.S. Bar Association, Dispute Resolution Section, Negotiation Committee
• Member, American Bar Association, Dispute Resolution Section, Early Dispute Resolution Subcommittee
• Member, N.Y.C. Bar Association, International Commercial Disputes Committee
• Member, Bodhala, Board of Advisors, 2014-present
• Member, Advisory Board, Barker Gilmore LLC
• Member, Board of Directors, Legal Aid Society, N.Y.C., 2007-2017
• Guest Lecturer, Columbia and Fordham Law Schools
• Member, Counsel on Foreign Relations, 2013-present

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