Roselle Wissler (Arizona State) and I have published our final article empirically examining aspects of initial joint sessions and initial caucuses. Participant Actions and Intermediate Outcomes in Initial Joint Sessions and Initial Caucuses recently appeared in the Journal of Dispute Resolution (here). The findings are based on the online survey responses of over 1000 civil and family mediators who conduct court-based and private mediation in eight states across the country.
We found that actions that traditionally took place during joint opening sessions and were thought to contribute to informational and relational benefits are still largely associated with those