Caucus (Mediation)
A private, confidential meeting between the mediator and one side during a mediation, held separately from the other party.
A caucus is a private conversation the mediator holds with one side alone, outside the presence of the other party. Most mediations alternate between joint sessions, where all parties are together, and caucuses, especially once substantive bargaining begins.
In caucus, a party can share information, concerns, or a real settlement floor with the mediator that it does not want disclosed to the other side. The mediator carries impressions, not verbatim statements absent express permission, between caucuses to help calibrate each side's expectations without breaching confidentiality.
Juricratic frames caucus-based bargaining as an information-asymmetric sub-game inside the negotiation dial: the mediator functions as a bounded information channel that can move each party's belief-state dial without ever fully revealing one side's private inputs to the other, structurally similar to how the engine treats any imperfect-information branch.
How it actually shows up
Advocates use caucus time to test settlement positions candidly, ask the mediator to relay a partial signal without disclosing a bottom line, and gauge the mediator's read on the other side's real posture.
- Is what a party says in caucus protected from disclosure?
- Generally yes, under mediation confidentiality privilege, unless the party expressly authorizes the mediator to share it with the other side.
- Can a mediator lie to move a caucus negotiation along?
- No. Mediators may not misrepresent facts, though they can decline to disclose information and can test a party's position with hypotheticals.
- Does every mediation use caucuses?
- No. Some mediators run purely joint-session, facilitative mediations without private caucuses, particularly in workplace or family disputes.
This page is an educational explainer, not legal advice, and creates no attorney–client relationship. Juricratic is a simulation engine: every probability-like figure is a dial you set, not a calibrated prediction. Verify every rule, deadline, and figure against the authorities and orders that govern your matter.
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