MICHAEL D. MARCUS’S MEDIATION MESSAGE NO. 83 THE EVOLUTION OF THE JOINT CAUCUS No part of the mediation process has evolved more in the eleven plus years that I’ve been involved than the joint caucus. When I trained as a mediator, I was told that every mediation should begin with a joint caucus; now, it is rare for mediations to begin in this fashion. That change is reason to give a fresh look at the…

GUIDELINES FOR CONDUCTING THE JOINT CAUCUS Last month’s Mediation Message discussed the considerations for holding or not holding a joint caucus. This message looks at the guidelines when a joint caucus is going to take place. • Who should be present? Ideally, all parties, attorneys and persons with settlement authority should be present but, occasionally, the circumstances (such as extreme hostility between the parties) may dictate that more can be accomplished if only the attorneys…

THE JOINT CAUCUS – WHEN SHOULD IT TAKE PLACE? At the end of a successful mediation, in which the participants had been separated during the entire process, the adjuster, who was from the East Coast, was surprised that there had been no joint caucus because it was his experience that they were mandated. That comment is the basis for this message which first reaffirms that every mediation should be approached as a unique event because…

OPENING STATEMENT V. PRELIMINARY REMARKS After the mediator’s introductory comments at the beginning of a mediation, counsel are given the opportunity to make an opening statement. Because the purpose and method of this presentation are both similar to and dissimilar from an opening statement at trial, I prefer to call them preliminary remarks. An opening statement at trial is supposedly not for argument; instead, it is the time for counsel to tell the judge or…