Roger Fisher

Roger Fisher
Name	Roger Fisher
Birth date	March 28, 1922
Birth place	Chicago
Death date	August 25, 2012
Death place	Wayland, Massachusetts
Occupation	Lawyer, professor, author, mediator
Employer	Harvard Law School
Notable works	Getting to Yes, Getting Together

Roger Fisher was an American lawyer, author, and professor renowned for transforming approaches to negotiation, mediation, and dispute resolution. He co-founded the Harvard Negotiation Project and authored influential works that shaped practice at institutions such as United States Department of State and United Nations. His ideas on principled negotiation influenced practitioners across business, diplomacy, law, and international relations.

Early life and education

Born in Chicago, Fisher served during World War II as part of the broader wartime generation before pursuing higher education. He earned an undergraduate degree from Harvard College and later studied law at Harvard Law School, where he developed interests in constitutional law and dispute resolution alongside contemporaries at Harvard University. During his formative years he encountered figures associated with New Deal-era public service and postwar legal reform movements.

Academic and legal career

Fisher joined the faculty of Harvard Law School, where he taught courses intersecting constitutional law, professorial scholarship, and negotiation practice. He served in roles connecting academic scholarship to public institutions including the Federal Government and legal clinics that collaborated with regional courts and bar associations. His tenure at Harvard Law School coincided with habilitations and appointments of colleagues who later joined institutions such as Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, and Stanford Law School. Fisher also engaged with organizations including the American Bar Association and think tanks that advised legislative and executive branches on dispute resolution policy.

Harvard Negotiation Project and negotiation theory

Fisher co-founded the Harvard Negotiation Project, a research center that brought together scholars and practitioners from Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Law School, and international partners like the United Nations and the World Bank. The Project developed training programs used by delegations to Camp David Accords-era negotiators, corporate leadership teams, and civil society mediators. Fisher helped formulate the Project’s central doctrine of principled negotiation, which contrasts positions advanced in adversarial frameworks such as those used in traditional contract litigation before courts and arbitration panels. The Project’s methodology integrated case studies from Geneva talks, commercial disputes involving New York City firms, and public-sector bargaining in state capitols.

Major publications and ideas

Fisher’s most cited work, co-authored with William Ury, was Getting to Yes, which articulated BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement), objective criteria, and the separation of people from problems. Other notable books included Getting Together and collections edited through the Harvard Negotiation Project that addressed mediation in international crises and corporate disputes. His scholarship engaged primary materials from landmark events such as Cuban Missile Crisis-era diplomacy, peace processes in Northern Ireland, and trade negotiations overseen by General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Fisher’s contributions emphasized interests over positions, developing practical techniques applied in negotiation training at institutions like United States Institute of Peace and private firms in London and Tokyo.

Public service and consulting

Fisher advised numerous public officials, serving as consultant or envoy in matters involving the United States Department of State, bilateral boundary talks, and municipal labor disputes. He worked with negotiators from countries participating in Middle East peace process dialogues and advised corporate counsel in transnational mergers involving firms listed on the New York Stock Exchange. His consulting practice bridged academia and practice through partnerships with mediation centers in Geneva and The Hague, and through workshops for personnel from agencies such as the Federal Reserve and the Department of Defense on negotiation strategy and crisis management.

Awards and recognition

Fisher received honors from academic and professional bodies recognizing contributions to conflict resolution and legal education, including awards from the American Arbitration Association and fellowships at institutions such as Harvard University and foreign academies. His works have been translated and adopted by governmental training programs in countries including France, Germany, Japan, and Brazil, earning him international citations and lifetime achievement recognitions from organizations that include the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution and university law faculties.

Category:1922 births Category:2012 deaths Category:Harvard Law School faculty Category:American lawyers