Bart S. Fisher

Has been described as a “founding father” of the market for internationally trained lawyers (SAISPHERE, April, 1990), one of the D.C. trade bar “pioneers” (The Rushford Report, June 1998), “one of the godfathers of DC’s international trade law intelligentsia,” (Legal Bisnow, January 27, 2010), “one of the nation’s foremost experts on international trade, especially with regard to Asia,” (Above the Law, August 19, 2010), “high-powered and well-connected” (Huffington Post, March 3, 2012), “bright” (Fortune, December 14, 1981), and someone who practices the law with “audacity” (New York Times, December 19, 1989) Dr. Fisher has represented governments (including the Republic of Sudan, China, Iceland, the Dominican Republic, Israel, and Panama), numerous multinational enterprises, trade associations, and individuals in matters related to international trade and investment.

Has been quoted as a trade and investment authority in Fortune, Time, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Financial Post, Paris Match, The Ottawa Citizen, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Legal Bisnow, BNA International Trade Reporter, World Coffee and Tea, The Boston Globe, Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Examiner, Johns Hopkins SAIS Review, Caribbean Investor, Mother Jones, The Hill, and many other periodicals, newspapers, and journals.

He was nominated in 2019 and 2020 for the Nobel Peace Prize for establishing bone marrow transplant registries around the world.

Experience

Has devoted his career since 1972 to achieving positive results for his clients. For example:

• From 1972 through 1995, Dr. Fisher opened markets around the world by securing the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade for Mars, Incorporated, whose products include confectionery, rice, and pet food.
• He successfully represented over 20 corporations before the European Union on investment regulation relating to product, liability, accounting requirements, and labor relations.
• He obtain favorable resolution of a major damage case he brought on behalf of the Government of the Dominican Republic against AES Corporation, which had dumped toxic materials on its beaches.
• Has handled major real estate investments in the People’s Republic of China.
• Is currently Senior Advisor to CITIC Group, a large state-owned enterprise in China.
• Arranged for Iceland to enter the International Whaling Convention with its desired reservations.
• Represented The Rice Millers Association in a 10-year struggle to obtain access to the Japanese rice market for U.S. rice exporters. The effort finally succeeded in 1994 as part of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, and Japan is now, by value, the largest export market for the U.S. rice industry.
• Served as an industry advisor on the International Cocoa Agreement for the U.S. State Department on behalf of Nestle and other companies.
• Successfully represented 15 United States television broadcasters in 1978 in a complaint against the Government of Canada, which was deleting their advertisements and denying deductibility for cross-border advertising. President Carter determined that the border broadcasters’ complaint was valid, and that Canada had unfairly discriminated against the broadcasters.
• Is Counsel for the Republic of Sudan, a complex assignment dealing with the United States sanctions currently in place against Sudan.
• Has worked since 2006 on a pro bono basis for the Greater Dundalk Alliance’s LNG Opposition Team to protect Dundalk, Edgemere, and Turner’s Station from environmental harm and exposure to possible terrorist attack that might result from the construction of a proposed liquefied natural gas plant by AES Corporation at the former Sparrows Point Shipyard in Baltimore County. See Attachment 1.
• Established the Myanmar – United States Trade Council (MUSTC) in 2013 to promote international trade and investment in Myanmar, and is currently its Chairman (http://www.musatc.org)

Currently engaged in infrastructure projects in Africa. Dr. Fisher has particular expertise in obtaining financing for infrastructure projects for developing countries. He has acted as bond counsel for governments around the world.

Education

Graduated from Harvard Law School (J.D. 1972), Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., and Bologna, Italy (M.A. 1967 and Ph.D. 1970), and Washington University (B.A. 1963). Dr. Fisher was elected to Phi Beta Kappa at Washington University and awarded a Brookings Institution Fellowship in 1968.

Government Service

Was a participating member of the International Trade Working Group of the President’s Council on Year 2000 Conversion, which was chaired by John Koskinen.

Teaching

Has taught international trade and investment at five universities in the Washington, D.C., area since 1974, as follows:

• Taught International Trade and Economic Negotiations at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (http://www.americantradepolicy.com) in 2009 and 2010.
• Was Adjunct Professor of International Relations at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service from 1974-1982, where he was the recipient of the Dean’s Certificate of Recognition and Appreciation in the Master of Science in Foreign Service Program. Dr. Fisher resumed his teaching at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1997 through 2001.
• Taught at the Elliott School of International Affairs of George Washington University from 2002-2004, George Mason University from 1991-1993, and from 1983-96 at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Affairs, where he established the Stanford Law School-Johns Hopkins SAIS JD-M.A. program.
• Serves on the Board of Directors of the Osgood Center for International Studies, a premier foreign policy studies program in Washington, D.C. (http://www.osgoodcenter.org). The Osgood Center offers short-term foreign policy programs to gradate, college, and high school students from around the globe. Dr. Fisher lectures occasionally in this program.
• Formerly served on the Board of Directors of the Center for Democracy, which monitored elections in the Philippines and other places around the world.

Healthcare

• Has served as President of the Aplastic Anemia And MDS International Foundation (http://www.aamds.org), which he founded in 1983, and currently serves on its Board of Directors. The major initial achievement of the Foundation was the establishment of a national bone marrow transplant registry.
• Served on the Board of Directors of the National Marrow Donor Program (http://www.nmdp.org) from 1988 through 2000, and as Chairman of the Audit and Public Policy committees of the Board of Directors.
• Served on the Board of Directors of The Marrow Foundation from 1992 through 2002.
• Serves as Chairman of the Give Life Foundation, which promotes the donation of blood, organs, and tissues (http://www.give-lifefoundation.org)
• Serves on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for America’s Blood Centers (http://www.thefabc.org).
• Is Chairman of Cordgenics, LLC, a cancer diagnostics company based in Huntington, West Virginia (http://www.cordgenics.com)

Information Technology

Is Chairman of Computertekk, an information technology staffing company based in Washington, DC.

Investment Banking

• Is Managing Partner of JJ&B, LLC, a boutique investment bank in Washington, DC (http://www.jjbllc.com)
• Is Chairman of Omni Advisors LLC, an investment bank in Washington, DC and New York (http://www.omni-advisors.com)
• Listed in Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in America.

Publications

Publications include many articles and the following books:

• The International Coffee Agreement: A Study in Coffee Diplomacy (Praeger 1972);
• Regulating the Multinational Enterprise: National and International Challenges, ed. with Jeff Turner (Praeger 1985);
• Barter in the World Economy, ed., with Kathleen M. Harte (Praeger 1985);
• International Trade and Investment: Regulating International Business, co-author with John Barton (Little, Brown & Company 1986), which has been used as the standard casebook on international trade and investment law in many law schools in the United States. Dr. Fisher’s co-author John Barton was Professor of Law at Stanford Law School.
• India Wakes: Post Coronavirus New World Order, co-author with Arun Tiwari (Sakal Media Pvt. Ltd., 2020) – available on Amazon.