Jon Hart

Jonathan Hart is NPR's Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel. He represents NPR in all legal matters and serves as legal advisor to the President and CEO, Board of Directors and Foundation Trustees, and NPR management. He also serves as NPR's Chief Ethics Officer and as Secretary to the NPR Board of Directors.

Prior to joining NPR in 2014, Hart spent more than 27 years in private practice, representing media and technology companies and nonprofit institutions on a broad range of matters: from intellectual property and newsroom counseling to litigation; from content and technology licensing to corporate governance; from commercial contracts and strategic alliances to data collection and privacy. His clients included dozens of leading newspapers, magazines, and radio and television stations; websites, mobile applications, and digital publishers; technology and telecommunications companies; and nonprofit organizations. From 1991 through 2013, Hart was a partner with Dow Lohnes PLLC, where he founded and led the Media & Information Technologies practice. In 2014, Dow Lohnes merged into Cooley LLP, where Hart served as a partner in the Technology Transactions group.

Hart was a founder of the Online News Association and served as ONA's outside general counsel for 15 years before joining NPR. He was on the faculty of the Stanford Professional Publishing Courses from 1994 through 2008 and has been on the faculty of the Yale Publishing Course since 2010. Hart has written extensively and speaks often on media, technology and publishing law. His book, Internet Law: A Field Guide (BNA Books), is in its sixth edition.

Hart has been recognized by Washingtonian magazine as one of "Washington's Best Lawyers" (First Amendment and Media); by Super Lawyers (Technology Transactions); and by Best Lawyers in America (First Amendment Law, Information Technology Law, Media Law, and Litigation - First Amendment).

Before entering private practice, Hart clerked for United States Circuit Judge Jerome Farris and United States District Judge Almeric Christian.

Hart received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Middlebury College and his Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School.