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JAMS Pathways

JAMS Pathways

Take your business from conflict to consensus

Customizable Solutions for Addressing and Preventing Conflict

The Problem

A sensitive issue no one wants to discuss. Relationship problems that could become a public relations nightmare. An internal conflict that could lead to legal action and challenges retaining employees. Don’t let conflict pull at your organization’s productivity. Whatever the topic, however large or small the conflict, we can help you navigate it. Our proactive process, honed over 40 years of mediation experience, is designed to guide you toward common ground and create lasting, positive change.

A Pathway to Success

JAMS Pathways™ offers an integrated and fresh approach to problem solving based on proven methods of dispute resolution, helping to avoid conflict or address it before relationships become strained, reputations are tarnished, lawsuits are filed and/or employees leave and become disenchanted or disengaged. Through training and implementation of appropriate systems, we empower leaders and team members to identify and resolve conflicts early, quickly and effectively.

JAMS Pathways™ starts with a deep dive into the issues and goals associated with each matter. Based on our findings, Pathways professionals will design, provide and oversee a system of targeted training, neutral facilitation and early dispute resolution services for organizations that can help make any workplace more productive.

Moreover, it will establish a demonstrated commitment to a responsive, fair and psychologically safe work environment within your organization.

JAMS’ 40-plus years of dispute resolution experience has given us insights into the best ways to manage and prevent disputes. Our history informs our approach: We work with clients to understand their challenges and needs, and then design a plan to help them accomplish their goals. JAMS Pathways™ is uniquely suited to provide a wide array of organizations—from universities and hospitals to corporations and fast-growing startups—with customized skills and tools for solving problems as they arise.

An Approach Tailored to You

No two organizations are alike, and our services reflect this. The optimal approach takes into account past, current and potential areas of conflict, from internal politics and bias to harassment and racial tensions. In some cases, we focus solely on skills. For example, an organization may want to equip its managers with the skills they need to recognize fracturing teams and to employ the tools to fix them. In other situations, we augment skills training with the development of systems to efficiently and impartially manage conflicts when they arise, building processes that demonstrate an organization’s commitment to fairness and respect. Still other situations necessitate an immediate intervention to avoid a crisis. 

While our training and facilitation offerings are tailored to the specific environment and issues associated with each client organization, we formulate our approaches from the areas of economics; law; psychology; negotiation theory; interpersonal dynamics; culture, cross-culture and diversity, equity and inclusion studies; and strategic behavior. Our work often focuses on:

  • negotiation principles and process expertise to manage conflict;
  • communication skills, with an emphasis on preparing for and engaging in difficult conversations;
  • stakeholder engagement and deal-making; and
  • steps to build a culture designed to manage conflict at the lowest possible level.

No matter the service, the starting point is the same: a comprehensive assessment interviewing all key stakeholders and gathering information. The assessment informs an understanding of organizational dynamics and serves as the starting point for dispute management and resolution. It also guides the delivery of services. From training to systems design to facilitation to mediation, services are sequenced and layered to reflect the nuances and complexities of each situation.

In many cases, organizations prefer ongoing training to stay on the right track year after year as personnel change and their needs evolve.

Meet Richard Birke

The chief architect of JAMS Pathways™ is Richard Birke, vice president of JAMS and the executive director of the JAMS Institute—the teaching and training arm of the company.

Mr. Birke is a hands-on leader who has designed client curricula based on the knowledge he has gained mediating, teaching and training, and in conjunction with other trainers and systems designers, he has delivered those services to organizations.

Prior to joining JAMS, Mr. Birke was a trial lawyer in the greater Boston area, a graduate student at Harvard Law School, associate director of the Stanford Center on Conflict and Negotiation, and a lecturer at Stanford Law School.

In 1993, he became a law professor at Willamette University and director of its Center for Dispute Resolution.

Richard has won two national writing awards for his work in the psychology and neuroscience of mediation and negotiation, taught dozens of innovative courses around the world, given hundreds of lectures and speeches, and mediated complex disputes involving such matters as an international child abduction, civil rights and the creation of national wilderness areas.

Featured JAMS Training and Teaching Professionals

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Overview of JAMS Solutions

JAMS Solutions

Arbitration and mediation are the most recognized tools of alternative dispute resolution and for good reason. They represent powerful, proven, cost-effective methodologies that can be used to equitably solve a wide variety of conflicts.

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Higher Education & Title IX

Higher Education & Title IX

Colleges and universities may need to manage, resolve and prevent conflict. As a worldwide leader in dispute resolution, JAMS is qualified to provide a comprehensive range of unique and effective solutions for problems facing students, faculty and staff including Title IX and Title VII Hearing Officers,training, facilitation and systems design services for human resources and other departments.

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Health Systems & Medical Organizations

Health Systems & Medical Organizations

In health systems, hospitals, doctors’ groups and other medical organizations, internal disputes are not just disruptive to business operations, they may affect patient care and professional careers. Our custom programs tailored specifically to healthcare, allow providers to avert many foreseeable disputes and more quickly resolve others.

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Natural/Mass Disaster Relief

Natural/Mass Disaster Relief

In disasters where there can be thousands of lawsuits—often with a single defendant—traditional litigation can be excessively burdensome to claimants who need timely resolution to rebuild their lives. We work with stakeholders and courts to design programs that take into account the particular circumstances of the disasters and common themes of the claims to resolve these high-volume disputes quickly and fairly.

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Submit a Case

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Connect with Our Team

Need more information or assistance? Connect with our case management team.

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