WHAT: Investiture of John Fisher   
 
WHERE: Atrium, Moultrie Courthouse – Third Floor, 500 Indiana Ave, NW 
 
WHEN: Friday, January 6, 2006 at 4:00 pm 
 
WHO:  Chief Judge Eric T. Washington    

Biography: John Fisher is the son of George and Helen Fisher, both of whom are now deceased.  He was born and raised in Knox County, Ohio, and graduated from Fredericktown High School.  In 1968 he received his A.B. degree magna cum laude from Harvard College.  He then served as an enlisted man in the US Army, spending one year in South Vietnam.  After his military service, John attended Harvard Law School, receiving his J.D. degree cum laude in 1974. 
 
Following law school, Mr. Fisher clerked for two years for the Honorable Joseph P. Kinneary, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio.  He came to the District of Columbia in 1976 to join the United States Attorney’s Office and served in a variety of trial, grand jury, and appellate assignments from 1976 until 1983. 
 
Mr. Fisher served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio from 1983 to 1986.  In 1986 he became Of Counsel to the Columbus law firm of Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease, where he specialized in complex civil litigation. 
 
Mr. Fisher returned to the District of Columbia in 1989 to become Chief of the Appellate Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.  For more than sixteen years he supervised that office’s criminal appeals in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  In addition to managing the work of a division staffed by about forty-five persons, Mr. Fisher briefed and argued many appeals himself.  Over the course of his 
career he argued sixteen en banc cases before the DC Court of Appeals or the DC Circuit. 
 
 
In addition to supervising appellate litigation, Mr. Fisher emphasized the concept of “preventive appellate advocacy,” hoping that, by being available to provide legal advice and guidance to trial lawyers, the Appellate Division could prevent some troublesome issues from arising on appeal. 
 
Mr. Fisher has worked on bar committees dealing with the Rules of Professional Conduct and served for six years as a member of the DC Bar’s Legal Ethics Committee.  He also served on the Advisory Committee on Procedures of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  For five years he was Treasurer of Washington Farm United Methodist Church.   
 
Among other recognition, Mr. Fisher has received the Harold Sullivan Award from the Assistant United States Attorneys Association, a Director’s Award for Executive Achievement from the Director of the Executive Office for US Attorneys, and the John Marshall Award for Outstanding Legal Achievement for Handling of Appeals from the Attorney General of the United States. 
 
Mr. Fisher is often ridiculed for his love of bluegrass music. 
 
In June of 2005 President George W. Bush nominated Mr. Fisher to fill a vacancy on the Court of Appeals created by the retirement of Chief Judge Annice M. Wagner.  He was confirmed  by the Senate in October and began work on October 17, 2005. 
 
Judge Fisher is married to Margaret Fisher, who is an instructional assistant focusing on character education at William Halley Elementary School in Fairfax County.  Margaret and John have two children.