JAMS, formerly known as Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, Inc. is a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

–based for-profit organization of

alternative dispute resolution Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or external dispute resolution (EDR), typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a third party. They are used for ...

(ADR) services, including

mediation Mediation is a structured, voluntary process for resolving disputes, facilitated by a neutral third party known as the mediator. It is a structured, interactive process where an independent third party, the mediator, assists disputing parties ...

and

arbitration Arbitration is a formal method of dispute resolution involving a third party neutral who makes a binding decision. The third party neutral (the 'arbitrator', 'arbiter' or 'arbitral tribunal') renders the decision in the form of an 'arbitrati ...

. H. Warren Knight, a former

California Superior Court Superior courts in California are the State court (United States), state trial courts with general jurisdiction to hear and decide any civil or criminal action which is not specially designated to be heard in some other court or before a governm ...

judge, founded JAMS in 1979 in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...

. A 1994 merger with Endispute of Washington, D.C. made JAMS into the largest private arbitration and mediation service in the country. It is one of the major arbitration administration organizations in the United States. As of 2017, JAMS has 27 resolution centers, including its headquarters in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

and centers in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. JAMS specializes in mediating and arbitrating complex, multi-party, business/commercial cases. JAMS administers a few hundred consumer arbitration cases per year. JAMS's Consumer Minimum Standards have been the subject of scholarly commentary. A policy promulgated by JAMS in 2004 that would have allowed for class arbitrations, even if the arbitration agreement did not allow them, and the subsequent retraction of that policy, were also controversial.

JAMS Foundation

JAMS established the JAMS Foundation to offer financial assistance for

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of Conflict (process), conflict and Revenge, retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively co ...

initiatives with national or international impact and to share its

dispute resolution Dispute resolution or dispute settlement is the process of resolving disputes between parties. The term ''dispute resolution'' is '' conflict resolution'' through legal means. Prominent venues for dispute settlement in international law incl ...

experience and expertise for the benefit of the public interest. Funded entirely by contributions from JAMS neutrals and staff, the JAMS Foundation has provided nearly $5 million in grants for

initiatives. The JAMS Foundation also established the Weinstein International Fellowship Program to provide opportunities for individuals from outside the United States to visit the U.S. and learn more about

processes and practices and to pursue a project of their own to advance

in their home countries. The Foundation, through the Warren Knight Award, has awarded $25,000 grants to programs dedicated to resolving conflict both in the US and around the world.

Notes

References

External links

JAMS ADR official website

JAMS International official website
{{Authority control Dispute resolution Arbitration organizations