Biography of Richard S. Alper, Esq.

As a result of his training and experience, Richard Alper has considerable expertise in mediation and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) of land-use and other environmental public policy issues. Over the last fifteen years, he has mediated and facilitated approximately 150 such cases.

Mr. Alper earned a B.A. in history from Kenyon College and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law School. He took post-graduate courses in pollution control and natural resources law at George Washington University Law School, and studied environmental negotiation and dispute resolution at both George Washington University Law School and Vermont Law School.

He took additional training in mediation skills in a course sponsored by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia; in facilitating land-use and environmental disputes at the Northern Virginia Mediation Service; in ADR at the Center for Dispute Settlement in Washington, D.C.; and in environment and public policy collaborative process and facilitation at Humboldt University in Arcata, California, and the Center for Dispute Resolution in Boulder, Colorado.

As an attorney for county government, investors, and developers, he has had over thirty years of experience in land development, land use, and commercial real estate transactions.

As an Assistant Attorney General of the Maryland Department of the Environment, he established the legal structure for Maryland's underground storage tank loan program and drafted amendments to Maryland's regulations concerning licensing requirements for the State Board of Water Works. As an Associate County Attorney for Prince Georges County, MD, he successfully appeared in federal court in complex multi-jurisdictional cases involving Potomac River pollution, sludge disposal, NPDES permit renewal and solid waste landfills. In connection with his environmental and land-use practice, Mr. Alper has also served as counsel to the Prince Georges' County Council on planning, zoning, and water and sewer policy issues and cases.

Richard Alper was a founder and chairman of the board and currently serves as chair of the Training and Facilitation Committee of the Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County, MD. He completed a three year term as an elected member of the ADR Section Council of the Maryland Stated Bar Association; is a member of the comparable section of the American Bar Association, including its sub-committee on public policy consensus building and served as vice-chair of the ADR Section of the Bar Association of Montgomery County. Mr. Alper is a member of the Environment and Public Policy Section of the Association for Conflict Resolution and served as co-chair of the Community and Public Affairs Section of the Maryland State Dispute Resolution Commission. He has also served as an adjunct faculty member at College of Southern Maryland, Maryland Center for Environmental Training, Montgomery College, the Academy for Excellence in Local Governance at the University of Maryland and Prince George's Community College.