About Us

H. Richmond “Rich” Fisher, J.D. is a graduate the Sidwell Friends School, Washington, D.C., Lafayette College, Easton Pa., and the Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C.  He is an attorney, organizational consultant, published author, and educator.  He has more than 30 years experience helping individuals, businesses, and government agencies work together effectively to achieve common goals, resolve conflict, and navigate change.  He is a nationally recognized expert (a) in applying innovative communications, conflict resolution, and project management processes to transform conflict into partnership in business and government, (b) in developing self-managed high performing teams that complete large, complex business projects on time/on budget, and (c) in facilitating the development and implementation of public policy in federal, state, and local government agencies.

Rich served as the first Federal Judicial Law Clerk to Judge William S. Sessions, Chief Judge, U. S. District Court for the Western District of Texas and Director of the F.B.I., and as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Division of the U. S. Department of Justice.  He is certified by the Washington Mediation Association in the following areas of mediation: Business/Commercial, Construction, Environmental, International, Organizational, and Public Policy.  Rich has practiced law for more than 25 years, including complex civil litigation cases.

Rich is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, and holds professional certifications in Win Win Technology ™, Creative Strategic Thinking, Project Alignment ™, an innovative business team building process, Project ReAlignment ™, an innovative business conflict resolution process, and Slate Tracker ™, an innovative project executive risk assessment and mitigation process.  Rich was recently awarded a contract by the State of Oregon to provide Mediation, Large Group Facilitation, and Public Policy Facilitation services to Oregon state government agencies.

 Rich is a published author.  One of his three lead articles in law journals, “The Seventh Amendment and the Common Law: No Magic in Numbers,” 56 F.R.D. 507 (1973) was used by the U. S. Supreme Court as the bases of its decision in Colgrove v. Battin, 413 U. S. 149 (1973), which guarantees the right to trial by jury of six persons in civil cases.  He has co authored two books on innovative conflict resolution, Win Win Power: Transforming Conflict and George and the Jeanie: an Adventure in Conflict Disappearance, available on Amazon.com. 

Another book has just been published and is available in this website as an E-Book. It is entitled Conflict to Partnership: How to Transform Most Any Conflict into Partnership and Produce Sustainable, Measurable Results On Time/On Budget!  The book includes the story of Rich’s journey from litigator to win win facilitator and presents the entire Conflict to Partnership program, including specific examples of how Rich has applied the skills to help transform conflict into partnership.

Rich is an educator.  He has taught team building, communications, and conflict resolution skills to private sector and public sector personnel for 18 years.  He developed a Continuing Legal Education program, “Ethics in Mediation,” which was offered through the Washington State Bar Association.    Rich developed the Transforming Mideast Conflict project, www.conflict2healing.com, an interdisciplinary on line education program to teach innovative listening, dialogue, conflict resolution processes, and promote interfaith understanding.

Rich has initiated two public workshops at Seattle’s Town Hall in which citizens learned and applied listening and dialogue skills to public policy issues.  The first, An Interfaith Dialogue on the Middle East Peace Process, took place in May, 2002 and included The Compassionate Listening Organization, Conversation Café, participation by Congressman Dennis Kucinich and Congressman Jim McDermott, 25 trained mediators/facilitators, and 200 participants.  The second, a Town Hall forum on media coverage of the war in Iraq took place in May, 2003, and was entitled “War in Iraq: Fair, Balanced, and Accurate Coverage?”  It was cosponsored by the Washington News Council and the Society of Professional Journalists.

Rich lives in the Queen Anne area of Seattle and enjoys working out, Swing dancing, and the Lindy Hop.

Dedication

Judge William S. Sessions
Distinguished Public Servant and Great American

and

Walid B. Farhoud
Wise Counselor and Good Friend

The Conflict to Partnership Education Program is an integration of my own learning and experience as an attorney, mediator, and organizational consultant specializing in business project team building and conflict resolution.  I am grateful to the many teachers, mentors, and colleagues who have guided and supported me on this journey: Honorable William S. Sessions and Honorable William H. Webster who modeled outstanding public service for me as a young lawyer; Walid B. Farhoud, distinguished Middle East expert, who has guided the evolution of this project over the past 10 years; John M. Rice, J.D. who developed the Win Win Model and had the patience to teach it to me as a very “left brained” litigator; the men and women of the United States Military Services, particularly the United States Navy and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, whom I have served as a Justice Department Trial Attorney and as a business consultant sharing Partnering team building and Win Win Conflict Resolution skills; Marissa  Theisen, colleague in the development of  the Win Win Conflict Replacement Trainings and co-author of Win Win Power: Transforming Conflict and George and the Jeannie: An Adventure in Conflict Disappearance; business project team building and conflict resolution experts Tom and Marsha Brascher of TeamTech, who developed the Project Alignment ™ team building process and the Slate Tracker ™ project executive risk assessment and mitigation process;  Michael D. Norman, P.E., J.D., my business partner in Win Win Resolution, LLC, who has helped design and facilitate Partnering team building and Win Win Conflict Resolution sessions in business and government.

The Conflict to Partnership Education Program is also dedicated to you, the student.  May you enjoy learning and applying the skills of Active Listening, Dialogue, Win Win Conflict Replacement, and the development, implementation, and monitoring of successful solutions. May you enhance the effectiveness of these skills based on your own experience and develop new ones, thereby contributing to the evolution of human consciousness.

 

Harvey Richmond Fisher, J.D.

Seattle, Washington

January 11, 2012