Christopher K. Poole

Chris Poole  is the Chief Executive Officer of JAMS, the largest provider of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services worldwide.

Poole joined JAMS in 2007 and since that time has led the organization through an unprecedented period of growth, which also helped elevate the ADR industry as a whole. In his role as President and CEO, Poole works closely with senior management and the highly-trained panelists who own the company. He is actively involved in recruiting high-profile ADR talent to the JAMS panel and overseeing the operations and marketing functions across all locations worldwide.  

Poole’s extensive business experience in the legal industry makes him uniquely qualified for the head post at JAMS. Prior to joining JAMS, Poole was CEO at Thomson Elite, part of The Thomson Corporation. Under Poole’s leadership, Thomson Elite, the software division of Thomson’s $3-billion Legal and Regulatory Market Group, grew to be one of the most successful suppliers to the legal industry. At Thomson, he was responsible for overseeing multiple product lines with 800 employees. During his tenure, Elite dominated its core market and became a global leader in legal software, achieving a market share of over 60 percent of the largest law firms in the world.

Poole was COO of Elite Information Systems from 1995 to 1998, Chair and CEO of Elite Information Group from 1999 to 2003, and President and CEO of Thomson Elite from 2003 to 2006. Before joining Elite, Poole was Executive Director of Latham & Watkins LLP in Los Angeles. Latham is one of the largest law firms in the world, with more than 2,600 attorneys in 30 offices around the globe. He served as Executive Director from 1993 to 1995, and prior to that, he was the firm’s Director of Technology from 1989 to 1993.

Poole was the recipient of the 2002 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He earned his B.A. in Economics from Harvard University in 1979 and his M.B.A. in Computers and Marketing from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA in 1984.

He is based in the JAMS Irvine Headquarters and lives with his family in Southern California.