It is generally understood that protein-protein interactions proceed via transient encounter complexes that rapidly evolve into the functional stereospecific complex. Direct detection and characterization of the encounter complexes, however, been difficult due to their low population and short lifetimes. Recent application of NMR paramagnetic relaxation enhancement first visualized the structures of the encounter complex ensemble, and allowed the characterization of their physicochemical properties. Further, rational protein mutations that perturbed the encounter complex formation provided a clue to the target search pathway during protein-protein association. Understanding the structure and dynamics of encounter complexes will provide useful information on the mechanism of protein association.