Genesis Fisher, Esq., is a mediator, facilitator and trainer who is highly adept at helping companies and families deal with tough issues. Through mediation, one-on-one coaching and conflict resolution training, she gets people talking so they can share their frustrations, address differences and repair trust. She has led or supervised over 250 mediations. Her trainings and workshops have helped over 2,000 people in six countries communicate better and create effective solutions. 

Ms. Fisher is currently the director of the Mediation Clinic at New York Law School and has been an adjunct professor since 2014, having taught more than a dozen courses from Advanced Legal Methods (legal writing) to Negotiation, Counseling and Interviewing at New York Law School. She taught a sociology practicum on conflict resolution at John Jay College and a mediation course at Rutgers Law School. 

Ms. Fisher is a past president of the board of directors for the Association for Conflict Resolution in Greater New York, a certified mediator, a former FINRA arbitrator and a member of the Eastern District of New York Mediation Panel. She serves on the inaugural Advisory Committee for the Center for Creative Conflict Resolution, which provides conflict resolution services for over 70 New York City agencies. 

Prior to focusing on dispute resolution, Ms. Fisher spent eight years fighting for the rights of indigent clients as a public defender with the Legal Aid Society. She started her legal career at the Southern Poverty Law Center, where she worked on national civil rights issues and Alabama jail and women's prison reform. She became interested in public interest law when she was the coordinator of volunteers at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless in D.C.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

Ms. Fisher has extensive ADR experience. As a certified mediator, she offers conflict resolution and thought partnership solutions across the globe, including strategic planning, mediation, coaching, board facilitations and workshops for workplace and family disputes. 

Ms. Fisher’s background as an instructor—training attorneys and former judges to mediate for the New York State court system and as an adjunct professor teaching mediation at New York Law School and Rutgers Law School—makes her uniquely qualified to convey the benefits of dispute resolution.

Ms. Fisher’s conflict resolution affiliations include serving as a:

• Certified Mediator, New York Peace Institute
• Certified Teacher (for a 24-hour basic mediation course for professionals, attorneys and former judges), New York State Unified Court System
• Inaugural Fellow, JAMS Diversity Fellowship Program
• Former Mediator, Center for Creative Conflict Resolution
• Supervisor, New York County Small Claims Court Mediation Program

Representative Matters

• Business & Commercial
• Mediated disputes involving co-founder separation agreements, facilitations with senior management teams and the C-suite, change management leadership support, creating/updating organization dispute resolution policies, and high-conflict dialogues for executive management and boards of directors 
• Mediated a tech co-founder separation agreement involving public social media dispute where one party bought out the other with a thorough and equitable arrangement that explored compensation, equity, intellectual property, noncompetes, nondisclosure agreements and personal matters, among other terms 
• Served as facilitator in dialogues involving board members who could not complete their fiduciary duties; helped to create a new governance and communication model to avoid future disputes
• Employment Law
• Mediated matters involving discrimination, including race, gender, age, disability, religion, national origin and sexual orientation; wage and hour claims; employee counseling; and sexual harassment
• Family Law
• Mediated matters involving custody and visitation agreements; stipulations of settlement; separation agreements; intergenerational conflict and asset agreements; spousal and child support; marriage and domestic partner dissolution; and division of property, assets and benefits 
• Mediated a separation agreement in a high-conflict matter with two prominent parents that resulted in an innovative custody and visitation arrangement and a graduated financial arrangement

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Memberships and Affiliations

• Past President, Association for Conflict Resolution of Greater New York
• Le-Gal, LGBT Bar Association of Greater NYC
• National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce

Selected Speaking Engagements

• “3 Mediation Approaches That Leaders Can Use to Connect With Their Team,” PRIDE Tech Virtual Summit, 2022
• “Conflict Resolution Can Help Emerging Businesses Avoid and Resolve Internal Issues,” Panel, Dispute Resolution Virtual Conference, American Bar Association, 2022
• “Diversity Within the Conflict Resolution Community.” With Special Guest Former Governor David A. Paterson, Moderator of the New York Law School ADR and Diversity Symposium, Virtual, 2022
• "Understanding and Managing Conflict," AmeriCorps LISC Leadership Conference, Virtual and In Person, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
• “Seeing the Matrix: How the Quest for Neutrality Forces Us to Articulate Our Own Values,” Annual Conference, New York State Dispute Resolution Association, Virtual, 2020
• “Negotiation in the Age of Coronavirus and Beyond: The Mediator's Perspective,” New York State Bar Association, Virtual, 2020
• “Communicating Effectively in the Workplace,” National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, 2020
• “Diversity in Employment Mediation,” Panel, National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) Night, New York, 2019
• "Getting Started in Your Career in Conflict Resolution," Columbia University, Master's Program in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, New York, 2018
• "The Very Human Mediating Party: Mediators Self Reflect on Life and Conflict," Panel, ACR-GNY Conference, Cardozo Law School, New York, 2017 

Selected Publications

• “Communicating Decisions as a Boss,” Leadership Excellence, October Newsletter, HR.com, Oct. 1, 2019
• "You Have Experts on Your Payroll and You Don't Even Know It! Conflict Coaching to Solve Workplace Discord," HR and Payroll Excellence, October Newsletter, HR.com, Oct. 26, 2017
• "Three Kinds of Power: Exploring the Trial Experience Through the Lost Narratives of Its Participants," Review of Law and Social Change, 2009

Background and Education

Background and Education

• J.D., New York University School of Law, 2006
• B.A., Sociology and Anthropology, Smith College, 2000