Meet the Team
Jay Folberg
Trainer, Facilitator, Mediator

Jay Folberg credits being the father of identical twin daughters as the impetus for his successful conflict resolution career. Navigating the twins’ competitive relationship honed his ability to help people resolve disputes in which there seems to be no path to agreement. Jay is particularly skilled at getting to the heart of multifaceted issues and dealing with the human factors that create obstacles to settlement.
“Conflict can be consuming, exhausting, expensive and destructive, particularly in an ongoing relationship at work, in a company or in a family business. Helping to resolve conflict lifts the cloud of blame and saves time, money and productive energy.”
A former dean and current professor emeritus at the University of San Francisco School of Law, Jay is recognized for his contributions to the development of alternative dispute resolution and his extensive experience as a mediator and arbitrator. He has provided his services to courts, businesses and government agencies, and has trained judges and lawyers around the world in mediation. At Pathways, he focuses on resolving conflict in educational and governmental institutions, workplaces, family businesses and nonprofit organizations.
Career Experience
- Litigator of commercial and insurance cases (Rives & Schwab, now Stoel Rives), as well as civil rights, education and consumer-related disputes, including class actions, in state and federal courts (founding executive director of Oregon Legal Services)
- Professor of trial practice, civil procedure, family law and ADR courses at the University of San Francisco (dean, 1989–1999), Northwestern School of Law – Lewis and Clark College, the University of Washington and the National Judicial College
- Extensive experience as judge pro tem
Background & Education
- J.D., University of California, Berkeley School of Law
- B.A., Economics and Finance, California State University, San Francisco
Insights & Publications
- Mediation: The Roles of Advocate and Neutral, 4th Ed. (Wolters Kluwer 2022)
- Lawyer Negotiation: Theory, Practice and Law, 4th Ed. (Wolters Kluwer 2022)
- Resolving Disputes: Theory, Practice and Law, 4th Ed. (Wolters Kluwer 2022)
- Divorce and Family Mediation, Guilford Press (2004)
- Mediation: A Comprehensive Guide, Jossey-Bass (1984)
- “Arbitration Ethics: Is California the Future?” 18 Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution, Issue 2 (2003)
- “Alternative Dispute Resolution: An Empirical Analysis,” 46 Stanford Law Review 1487 (1994)
- “Use of ADR in California Courts: Findings and Proposals,” 26 USF Law Review 343 (1992)

Work Vision
Empowering people in conflict to make peace and resolve their differences
Values
Listening without judgment, modeling thoughtfulness, respecting all participants’ perspectives, fears and suggestions

Areas of Focus
Educational and governmental institutions, family business/succession issues, civil rights, intergovernmental conflicts, disputes within and between nonprofit organizations