Conflict to Partnership: How to Transform Most Any Conflict Into Partnership and Produce Sustainable, Measurable Results On Time/On Budget!

H. Richmond 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, mediator, 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, including in the construction, transportation, and defense industries, 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 Honorable William S. Sessions, Chief Judge, U. S. District Court for the Western District of Texas and Director of the FBI, as Legal Counsel to the Solicitor of the National Labor Relations Board, and as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Division of the U. S. Department of Justice. Rich has practiced law for more than 20 years, including representing parties in 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 is certified by the Washington Mediation Association in the following areas of mediation: Business/Commercial, Construction, Environmental, International, Organizational, and Public Policy. 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, including George and the Jeannie: An Adventure in Conflict Disappearance, available on Amazon.com.

Rich is an educator. He has taught team building, communications, and conflict resolution skills to private sector and public sector personnel for 20 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. He recently developed the Conflict to Partnership on line video education program, which will be published this year, to teach skills that help people shift from anger and separation to mutual understanding, to resolution, to healing, and to partnership. Rich will offer this program through the Center for Conflict Transformation and Interfaith Cooperation, a non profit organization registered in the State of Washington.

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 Project, 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 Seattle, Washington, and enjoys Swing dancing, and the Lindy Hop.