Your first case, start to finish
This is the whole arc of a case in Scale, from the moment an attorney opens your booking link to the moment the last invoice is paid. Every step here has its own article; this one exists so you can see how they connect before you start clicking.
The case used throughout is Bramwell v. Northline Freight Systems, Inc. — a full-day virtual employment mediation for Renee Castellano, with Nora Whitfield for the plaintiff and Marcus Feldman for the defendant.
Before you begin
Three things have to be set up on your account, or parts of the case will quietly not work:
- Zoom connected. If it isn't, no meeting link is created at booking and nothing tells you. See How to connect Zoom, Stripe and your calendar.
- Stripe connected. Invoices are raised on your own Stripe account. Without it there is nothing to invoice from.
- Rates set. See How to set your rates.
1An attorney books a date
Attorneys don't log in. They open your booking link, pick an open date, choose a half day or a full day, and enter both sides' details.
Dates show as open only if you've opened them on your Schedule. Everything starts as not available until you do. See How your schedule works.
2The case appears, and the first emails go out
As soon as the booking completes:
- The case is created and the date is taken off your availability.
- You get a "case registered" email.
- Each party gets an onboarding email with a link to their own onboarding form.
- A Zoom meeting is created on your Zoom account for the date and time, 8 hours long for a full day and 4 for a half day.
- The mediation is added to your Google or Outlook calendar, if you've connected one.
If your Zoom isn't connected at this moment, the case is still created and everything else still happens. Only the Zoom link is missing, and no error is shown.
3The parties onboard
Each side opens their onboarding form, fills in their contact and invoice details, answers your case questions and uploads documents. Completing the form is what turns the first dot green on the case.
Onboarding is also what triggers the invoice. A party who hasn't onboarded has no invoice yet — that's by design, not a fault.
4Invoices go out
Each party's invoice is raised on your Stripe account for their share of the fee, plus your admin fee and, if you pass it on, the card processing fee. On this case the full-day rate is a case total of $16,000, split between two parties, so each attorney is invoiced $8,000.
They can pay by bank transfer or card. See How to pay your invoice for what they see.
5Briefs come in
Briefs are uploaded through the same onboarding form, or emailed to you directly. If a brief arrives by email, tick Brief Received Manually on the case so the tracker stops chasing it.
6Reminders chase what's missing
Onboarding, brief and payment reminders go out on the schedule you set, on business days only. You don't have to do anything for these. When you want to nudge someone off-schedule, use Trigger Reminder Email on the case — see How to resend an onboarding reminder or Zoom link.
7The day itself
Open the case and use Join Breakout Room. The parties join from the link in their email. If your agreement module is on, they're asked to sign before they're let through.
8Afterwards
If there's extra time or expense to bill, raise another invoice from the case. See How to create an additional invoice.
What's next
- The case sits in Cases until its date passes, then moves to completed
- Revenue on your Dashboard counts invoiced money, not money received
- How to connect Zoom, Stripe and your calendar