Judge Jacobs-May is a sought-after mediator with JAMS in San Jose, where she mediates substantively and emotionally complex disputes in a variety of practice areas, including business and contract matters, class actions, employment, wage and hour, probate, professional liability, and personal injury. Before becoming a lawyer, Judge Jacobs-May served 21 years as judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court.

Judge Jacobs-May is also in demand as a speaker, teaching nationally and internationally on negotiation and mediation, including at the University of Tartu, Estonia, and the University of California Berkeley School of Law, where she serves as an adjunct professor.

Judge Jacobs-May is Consultant to the California Judges Bench Books on Civil Proceedings: Before Trial, Trial, after Trial and Discovery. She is a past member of the Judicial Council of California and the CACI Advisory Committee, responsible for drafting civil jury instructions; and past chair of the Civil and Small Claims Advisory Committee. Among her numerous honors are: “Rising Star,” Top California Neutrals List, Daily Journal; Best Mediator listing of California’s Best Legal Service Providers, The Recorder, 2012; Top 100 Women of Influence, San Jose Business Journal; Judge of the Year, Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association; and Senior Fellow, American Leadership Forum, a national non-profit organization which selects leaders from the public, private, and non-profit sectors to work on public issues.

Before becoming a judge, she practiced law with the Santa Clara County Counsel office, the Berliner, Cohen law firm in San Jose, and the California Attorney General’s Office.