Rates, fees and splits
Rates and splits are set per mediator, not per case, and are stamped onto the case at booking. A mediator who changes their rates does not change what an already-booked case bills. The case manager fee is the exception: it's configured per mediator but struck on what the case actually invoices, so it moves as invoices are raised.
The rate
| Setting | Values |
|---|---|
| Billing type | Fixed or hourly |
| Fixed | A half-day rate and a full-day rate, each a total for the case |
| Hourly | An hourly rate and a deposit. The deposit is invoiced at booking; time is billed afterwards |
| Session length | Full day books 480 minutes, half day 240 |
How the total is divided
One setting per mediator decides it:
| Setting | Rule |
|---|---|
| Equal split | The case total divided by the number of paying parties |
| 50% split by side | Each side owes half; that half is then divided among the parties on that side |
Two plaintiffs and three defendants on a 50%-by-side case pay 25% each and about 16.7% each.
Adding or removing a party re-divides the total and reissues the affected invoices. That is why everyone else's invoice moves when one party joins.
Scale's admin fee
Set per mediator as an amount and a payer.
| Type | A flat dollar amount, or a percentage of that party's share |
| Paid by the client | Added to each party's invoice as its own line item, on top of their share |
| Paid by the mediator | Not shown on the invoice. Taken out of what the mediator receives |
| Rounding | Always snapped to a whole dollar, so a percentage on a fractional split never produces cents |
Either way, Scale receives it the same way: as the application fee on the Stripe invoice. The payer setting decides whether it's visible on the invoice, not whether it's charged.
The card processing fee
2.9% plus 30 cents, rounded down. Whether it appears on the invoice is a per- mediator setting; parties paying by bank transfer are never charged it.
The case manager fee
Set once per mediator on the panel, then derived on every case that mediator books. It is not entered case by case.
| Type | Fee |
|---|---|
| Fixed | A flat amount per case |
| Percentage | That percentage of the case's invoiced revenue — the invoices actually raised on the case, counted at paid, paid manually or pending |
A percentage fee accrues as soon as an invoice is raised. You don't wait for the money to land. If only one side of a case has been invoiced, you earn on one side: Trumbauer v. Continental Skyline Airways carries one $8,000 invoice rather than two, so Aisha Bellamy's 10% on it is $800 rather than $1,600. When the second invoice goes out, the tile moves.
A percentage fee is always struck on invoiced revenue, not on the case's rate, and the two aren't always the same number. Petrakis v. Cascade Ridge Behavioral Health carries a $16,000 full-day rate but $10,000 invoiced, so a 10% fee on it is $1,000, not $1,600. If a fee total doesn't match what you'd expect from the rate card, that's why.
Stripe
Each mediator has their own Stripe Connect account. Invoices are raised on that account, money settles to that mediator, and Scale's admin fee is taken as the application fee on the same invoice.
Related
- Every email the platform sends — invoice and payment emails
- Reminders — payment reminder timing