Since forming in 1979, JAMS has played a leading role in the evolution of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), developing constructive and cost-effective approaches to resolving legal disputes. In 1999, JAMS neutrals purchased the company from the investment banking firm who previously owned it, taking the opportunity to steer the company in a manner that reflected their own commitment to improving ADR, as well as to continue serving the public. JAMS Panelists were encouraged to participate in a widerange of ADR-related pro bono activities - as teachers, trainers, and mediators - through courts programs, service agencies, government organizations and educational institutions.

As JAMS' neutrals embraced the company's efforts to share its success and expertise in the public interest, JAMS formalized its commitment in 2001 by establishing the JAMS Foundation. The Foundation, chaired by the Hon. Warren Knight (Ret.) and directed by Dean Jay Folberg, is a separate non-profit entity providing financial and technical support for innovative national ADR-related initiatives that serve the public interest. It is funded entirely by contributions from JAMS Panelists and employee Associates, reflecting JAMS basic/fundamental commitment to maintaining its neutrality in all of its activities, including its public service. The Foundation currently has over 125 Principal Benefactors, JAMS donors who contribute at least 1% of their monthly income to fund its efforts, as well as other JAMS contributors, and the numbers have continued to grow steadily.

To date, the Foundation has raised over $1 million in contributions, which has been granted to non-profit organizations throughout the U.S. that are engaged in conflict resolution education and ADRrelated community service. The grants, typically ranging in size from $5,000 to $50,000, have funded a wide range of worthwhile programs and initiatives. Several of these include ADR education at all levels, from peer-mediation for elementary and middle-school students to advanced training and curricula for judges, court officials and researchers. The Foundation has supported efforts to increase the number of ADR practitioners from under-represented racial and ethnic groups, to expand access to ADR services for indigent and lowincome parties, and to enhance the use of mediation in environmental disputes. It has also funded specialized publications and educational programs to improve dispute resolution services for seniors, special education students, Native Americans, and at-risk youth.

Nationally, the Foundation has stepped up in times of crisis, offering assistance to victims of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. Internationally, the Foundation has supported constructive engagement between Israeli and Palestinian communities and encouraged the development of democratically-based conflict resolution in developing countries.

In the Sacramento area, the Foundation has funded an innovative program providing free telephone mediation services to indigent and low-income seniors unable to attend court hearings or mediation sessions outside of their homes. The Northern California pilot program will serve as a model for similar programs nationwide. For the past two years, the Foundation has also provided grants to Indian Dispute Resolution Services, based in Sacramento, to fund a continuing series of workshops for Native American tribal leaders seeking to include mediation and traditional peacemaking into their tribal justice systems.

This generosity of spirit is not limited to the JAMS Foundation. The JAMS Society provides opportunities for JAMS' employee Associates around the country to serve their communities in a variety of ways. Their activities have included Walkathons and Marathons, blood, clothing, food, and toy drives, volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity, Meals-on-Wheels, Children's Hospital, local food banks, as well as environmental projects such as tree plantings and beach clean-ups. Collectively, JAMS Society members have contributed thousands of hours and immeasurable good will serving the communities in which they live.

The Sacramento chapter of the JAMS Society has been involved in a number of worthwhile causes, both local and national. Their activities have included fundraising marathons benefiting the Sacramento Food Bank, Legal Services of Northern California, and the American Heart Association, as well as volunteer work in support of the Sacramento Children's Home and other local service organizations.

Over the years, public service has become an increasingly inseparable part of JAMS' mission, along with another essential component of JAMS' success in an increasingly complex and competitive environment - a commitment to continuing education for its neutrals. While State Bar associations around the country confront difficult issues of certification and continuing education requirements for ADR practitioners, JAMS has independently encouraged its panelists to refine their knowledge and skills through continuing education. This extends not only to attorney panelists, but to retired judges who have not historically been subject to mandatory continuing education requirements. Several years ago, under the leadership of its General Counsel, Jay Welsh, JAMS established the JAMS Institute, also headed by Dean Jay Folberg, as a unique in-house training program developed specifically to meet the dispute resolution education and training needs of its highly-experienced panel. Programs range from monthly, hour-long roundtable discussions to substantive multi-day trainings conducted by expert presenters both within and outside of JAMS. The JAMS Institute has sponsored regular mediation and arbitration workshops for all incoming Panelists and has coordinated a number of multi-site programs, utilizing video-conference and web-cast technologies, to allow for interactive participation between sites. The Institute also records many of these programs, making them available to JAMS Panelists in a number of state-of-the-art digital formats. Some of these programs include: Mediating the Complex Case, Arbitration Award Drafting, International Arbitration, Suretyship, and a workshop for Special Masters and Discovery Referees.

The JAMS Foundation, JAMS Society, and JAMS Institute embody and fulfill JAMS Mission, Vision and Values, demonstrating its commitment to serving the public and truly being The Resolution Experts.

David Brandon is the Program Manager for both the JAMS Foundation and JAMS Institute He has worked in the field of dispute resolution for almost 15 years since graduating from Boalt Hall School of Law in 1989 and being admitted to the California State Bar in 1990.

September/October 2006