Genesis Fisher, Esq., is a seasoned mediator who is highly adept at guiding corporations and organizations, entrepreneurs, and families through the resolution of matters that are often emotionally sensitive and highly contentious. She has earned a well-deserved reputation as a mediator who is able to see all sides of an issue and to apply workable, fair, and creative solutions to a wide array of business and personal disputes. She strives to understand parties’ interests and inspires them to think differently about opportunities to resolve conflicts.

She especially enjoys handling challenging and multifaceted ADR matters in multiple practice areas including, but not limited to, employment and labor, civil rights, family disputes, and business and commercial matters in pre-litigation and litigated stages.

Ms. Fisher’s well-honed ADR skills are rooted in her experience as an attorney, law professor, and mediation trainer. She is the former director of the Mediation Clinic at New York Law School and, as an adjunct professor since 2014, has taught more than a dozen courses on negotiation, legal writing skills, and conflict resolution at New York Law School, Rutgers Law School, and John Jay College. She is certified by the New York State Unified Court System to teach a 24-Hour Initial Mediation Training course for those seeking to mediate within the state court system. At JAMS, she is a member of a professional team that provides ADR skills training to JAMS neutrals on a year-round basis. She applies this rich panoply of mediation and negotiation skills in the service of her ADR clients when resolving even the most intractable disputes.

Prior to her career in dispute resolution, Ms. Fisher spent a decade as a criminal defense trial attorney. She represented thousands of clients in high stakes litigation and developed a reputation for crafting creative legal strategies and solutions, applying her negotiation prowess, and establishing strong bonds of trust with clients. She began her legal career at the Southern Poverty Law Center working on national civil rights issues and advocating for the improvement of jail conditions and state women's prison reform.

As an experienced ADR practitioner, negotiation/mediation educator, small business owner, and trial attorney, she seamlessly guides deeply entrenched parties to resolution through a powerful combination of legal acumen, hard work, empathy, creativity, and dogged determination.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

Representative Matters

• Business & Commercial
• Mediated tech co-founder separation dispute triggered by a public social media “cancellation” that resulted in a thorough and equitable buyout arrangement; addressed compensation, equity, intellectual property, non-compete, nondisclosure and personal issues  
• Mediated dispute between parties involving the dissolution of real estate holdings
• Mediated fee disputes between contractors and homeowners 
• Mediated co-founder separation agreement between best friend founders of a popular artistic toy company which included personal loan repayment terms and decision-making boundaries
• As an advocate, represented community owned bookstore in shareholder buyout process 
• Facilitated (pre-litigation) contentious board meetings for a non-profit organization where the board of directors could not carry out their fiduciary duties; supported clients in leadership transition and  development of a new governance and communication model designed to avoid future disputes
• Facilitated (pre-litigation) a contentious in-person retreat for a national college sorority experiencing roadblocks rooted in its decision-making processes and cross generational approaches to conflict
• Employment Law
• Mediated matters involving discrimination, including race, gender, age, disability, religion, national origin and sexual orientation, as well as disparate impact/implicit bias claims
• Mediated matters involving allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation
• Mediated mental-health-related disability discrimination and reasonable accommodation claim
• Mediated race discrimination claim brought within a State Attorney General’s Office
• Mediated dispute involving executive exit and compensation package after allegations of racial discrimination in the organization had been made
• Mediated matter involving allegations of racial discrimination in the application of an artificial intelligence (AI) system designed to assess and recommend compensation
• Facilitated a dialogue process exploring racial tension within the senior management team of a historical society
• As an advocate, counseled non-profit executive regarding renegotiation of position and compensation package related to the same
• Family Law
• Mediated disputes involving:
• custody and visitation agreements; 
• stipulations of settlement;
• separation agreements;
• spousal and child support;
• marriage and domestic partner dissolution; and
• division of property, assets and benefits
• Mediated dispute involving terms of separation agreement in a highly-contested matter between a cable journalist and lobbyist that resulted in a creative, graduated financial arrangement between the parties
• Mediated separation agreement between music industry founder and spouse after more than 10 years of acrimonious separation
• Mediated disputes involving separation agreements within the LGBTQ community including queer, gender non-conforming, and transgender parties
• Mediated disputes where at least one party had a mental health diagnosis
• Mediated disputes with cross national parties
• Mediated custody agreements between parents with histories of domestic violence
• As an advocate, crafted an innovative custody agreement for an accomplished screenwriter that reconciled two conflicting approaches to parenting
• As an advocate, negotiated a comprehensive custody agreement where one parent relocated to South Africa while the other remained in the United States 
• Civil Rights
• As an advocate, challenged the medical care deficiencies in a county jail on behalf of a mentally ill, suicidal detainee
• As an advocate, challenged the environmental conditions in an Alabama county jail on behalf of a group of detainees who were malnourished, languishing in scorching summer heat and denied sufficient access to clean water
• As an advocate, helped a prisoner obtain a settlement through mediation in matter where alleged medical neglect for his degenerative bone condition resulted in amputations
• Criminal Justice
• As an advocate, represented thousands of New Yorkers on criminal allegations including larceny, trespass, driving while under the influence, assault, fraud, drug possession and distribution, assaulting a police officer, kidnapping, discharging a firearm, property damage, sexual abuse/assault, animal cruelty, domestic violence, robbery, burglary, weapons possession, and attempted murder
• As an advocate, conducted over 50 dispositive pre-trial hearings, as well as bench and jury trials for misdemeanor and felony criminal offenses
• Facilitated community dialogues with citizens, violence interrupters and police officers for the New York City Stop and Frisk Joint Remedial Process
• Other Conflict Resolution Experience
• As an advocate, drafted dispute resolution and enforcement policies for a national association of attorneys
• As a facilitator, guided United States senior management team of a notable international NGO through a process to identify and articulate their organizational values
• Conducted over 20 trainings for hundreds of criminal defense attorneys, educating them about LGBTQ identities and exploring how these identities inform and impact their representation
• Conducted Anti-Bias in Mediation training sessions for the New York State Unified Court System, Division of Alternative Dispute Resolution. 
• Developed and provided a bespoke 15-hour mediation and coaching training for the C-suite and HR teams of an international finance company
• Facilitated a discussion process for the staff of a small theater company, addressing generational differences and new leadership
• Since 2016, provided conflict resolution and professional development training for nearly 3000 people in six countries to improve workplace communication and create effective solutions in industries including:
• Finance
• Higher education (college and law school)
• Chambers of commerce
• Executive training programs
• Tech companies
• Medical
• Supportive housing
• Public interest law
• National service (through community work in various sectors)
• Non-profits including reproductive rights, childcare, and arts education
• College affinity groups (e.g., sororities, alumni groups)
• Business conferences 

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

ADR Panels and Certifications
Current:

• United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, Mediation Panel
• Certified Mediator, New York Peace Institute
• New York State Unified Court System, Certified Instructor for 24-Hour Initial Mediation Training Course

• Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Arbitrator
• Supervisor, New York County Small Claims Court Mediation Program, 2018-2023
• Mediation Panelist, Center for Creative Conflict Resolution, 2019-2020
• Apprenticeship Instructor, Training Coach, and Mediation Panelist, New York Peace Institute, 2016-2020
• Mediator, New York City Family Court Mediation Program, 2017-2019

Selected Presentations and Media Appearances

• Moderator, “The Ethics of Authenticity,” LGBTQ Bar Association of New York and JAMS, Inc., 2024
• Panelist, “Mediating Complex and Emotionally Charged Disputes,” New York State Bar Association, Dispute Resolution Section, 2024
• Television Interview, “Keeping the Peace During Election Season,” Arizona’s Family News Live at 3, 2024
• Co-Presenter, “The Power of Empathy and Chemistry of Trust in the Workplace,” Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA) Annual Conference, 2024
• Panelist, “The Diversity Imperative in ADR,” Lavender Law Conference, 2024
• Panelist, “Mediator Strengths: Maximizing Your Potential,” Academy of Professional Family Mediators, 2024
• Panelist, “Pride in ADR,” Federal Bar Association, ADR Section, 2024
• Presenter, “Essential Mediation Skills for Managers,” New York City SHRM Biennial Conference, 2023
• Panelist, “Mediator Mindset: The Inside Job of a Family Mediator,” Academy of Professional Family Mediators, 2023
• Podcast Guest, “Building a Mediation Practice,” American Bar Association, Dispute Resolution Section Podcast, Resolution, 2023
• Panelist, “Conflict Resolution Can Help Emerging Businesses Avoid and Resolve Internal Issues,” American Bar Association, Dispute Resolution Virtual Conference, 2022
• Presenter, “3 Mediation Approaches That Leaders Can Use to Connect with Their Team,” PRIDE Tech Virtual Summit, 2022
• Moderator, New York Law School ADR and Diversity Symposium, with Special Guest, Former Governor David A. Paterson, Moderator of the Virtual, 2022
• Panelist, “Optimizing You and Your Case for Mediation,” New York State Bar Association, 2021
• Presenter, “Seeing the Matrix: How the Quest for Neutrality Forces Us to Articulate Our Own Values,” Annual Conference, New York State Dispute Resolution Association, 2020
• “Negotiation in the Age of Coronavirus and Beyond: The Mediator's Perspective,” New York State Bar Association, 2020
• Presenter, “Communicating Effectively in the Workplace,” National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, 2020
• Panelist, “Diversity in Employment Mediation,” National Employment Lawyers Association, New York (NELA-NY) Night, 2019
• Panelist, "Getting Started in Your Career in Conflict Resolution," Columbia University, Master's Program in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, 2018
• Panelist, "Preparing for Oral Arguments," New York University School of Law, 2018
• Panelist, "The Very Human Mediating Party: Mediators Self Reflect on Life and Conflict," ACR-GNY Conference, 2017 

Selected Publications and Media References

• “Nurturing Workplace Well-Being: Beyond Individuals to Community,” Hr.com, 2024
• “Spring 2024 Thought Leadership Awards – United States,” mondaq.com, 2024
• Genesis Fisher, Esq., and Deirdre McCarthy Gallagher, Esq., Award in the All Topics and Employment and HR categories in the United States for the podcast “JAMS Neutrals Discuss JAMS Pathways and Addressing Evolving Workplace Conflict”
• “The Top Five Issues in Startup Co-Founder Separations,” by Shirish Gupta and Genesis Fisher, JAMS ADR Insights, December 2021 

Background and Education

• Mediator, JAMS, Inc.
• Lead Neutral, JAMS Pathways 
• Principal Attorney and Mediator, Fisher Law Practice, P.C. 
• Trial Attorney, Legal Aid Society of New York City, 2008-2016
• Legal Fellow, Southern Poverty Law Center, 2006-2008
• Former Director, Mediation Clinic, New York Law School, 2022-2023
• Adjunct Law Professor, New York Law School 
• Lead Professor, 2020-2022, Mediation Clinic 
• Mediation Clinic Supervisor, 2018-2020
• Advanced Legal Methods course, 2018-2020
• Negotiation, Counseling and Interviewing course, 2014-2017 
• Adjunct Law Professor, Mediation, Rutgers Law School, 2020
• Adjunct Professor, Sociology Practicum on Conflict Resolution, John Jay College, 2020
• J.D., New York University School of Law, 2006
• B.A., Sociology and Anthropology, Smith College, 2000

• New York
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York