With 23 US Resolution Centers and a turnover approaching US$120m, JAMS is the unabashed behemoth of the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) world. ‘We’re now 32 years old,’ says Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Jay Welsh, ‘and unlike others in the legal sector, our business is robust and growing.’ JAMS began in Orange County, California in 1979 when retired judge Warren Knight tapped a market for settling cases which would otherwise have been determined in court. Following a period in ownership by an investment bank (1989 to 1997), the organisation is now owned by, and operated for, JAMS neutrals.