Rubicourt Arbitration Rules

Rule 1. When these rules apply

(a) These rules apply when the parties have agreed in writing to arbitrate a dispute with Rubicourt. The agreement may be a submission agreement signed after the dispute arose, or an arbitration clause in a platform's terms that names Rubicourt.

(b) During the pilot, Rubicourt accepts cases only under submission agreements signed after the dispute arose.

(c) A case is governed by the version of these rules in force when the parties made their agreement. An individual party may choose a later version instead by saying so when the case is filed or in its first filing. A rule change never applies to an earlier agreement without that choice.

(d) If any of these rules conflicts with a law the parties cannot waive, the law controls and the rest of the rules still apply.

Rule 2. Definitions

• Business party: a party that is a company, organization or person acting in the course of a business.
• Individual party: a person acting for personal, family or household purposes.
• Platform: a marketplace or service whose terms send disputes between its users, or between it and its users, to Rubicourt.
• Record: everything a party files in the case and every platform record attached to it, numbered R1, R2 and so on.
• Case page: the secure page where a party sees its case, deadlines and record.
• Drafting system: the software described in Appendix B that prepares summaries and, where both parties consent, draft text for an award.

Rule 3. Claim limit

Rubicourt administers claims of up to $10,000, not counting fees and interest. A counterclaim is subject to the same limit. Rubicourt declines a larger claim and returns any fee paid.

Rule 4. Small claims court

Either party may take an individual claim to a small claims court with jurisdiction instead, at any time before the arbitrator is assigned, or later if both parties agree. Rubicourt then closes the case and refunds any fee not yet earned.

Rule 5. Individual claims only

Rubicourt decides only individual claims. It does not administer class, collective or representative proceedings, and an arbitrator may not join or combine the claims of different claimants. Every claim is decided on its own record.

Rule 6. Who decides questions about the rules

(a) The arbitrator decides questions about the arbitrator's own powers and the meaning of these rules as they apply to the case, including objections to the existence, scope or validity of the arbitration agreement.

(b) Rubicourt decides administrative questions, such as whether a filing is complete and whether fees have been paid. Rubicourt's eligibility review under Rule 14 is administrative and does not decide any party's rights.

Rule 7. Disputes Rubicourt does not administer

Rubicourt does not administer:

• claims for personal injury or wrongful death;
• family law matters;
• disputes between an employer and an employee or job applicant;
• claims brought by a business to collect a consumer debt;
• disputes involving sexual harassment or sexual assault, unless the person alleging the conduct chooses arbitration after the dispute arises;
• disputes about consumer credit covered by the Military Lending Act;
• disputes about a residential mortgage loan;
• disputes where any party lives or is based outside the United States.

Rule 8. Public injunctive relief

A request for an injunction that would mainly benefit the general public belongs in court, not in a Rubicourt arbitration. The arbitrator may still decide the party's individual claims and award individual relief.

Rule 9. Representation

A party may act on its own, through a lawyer, or through any other representative the law allows. A party that appoints a representative must record the appointment on its case page or by the API.

Rule 10. Software agents

(a) A party may act through a software agent that connects to Rubicourt by API. Before the agent's first action, the party must record an authorization that names the party, the person or company that operates the agent, what the agent may do, and when the authorization ends.

(b) Rubicourt checks the authorization before the agent acts and logs every action with the identity of whoever took it.

(c) A party is responsible for everything its agent files, as if the party had filed it.

Rule 11. Actions the party takes personally

Only the party itself, or its lawyer, may settle the case, withdraw a claim, file an appeal, or consent to AI drafting under Appendix B. An agent may prepare these actions, but the party must confirm each one on its case page.

Rule 12. Notices

Rubicourt sends notices by email and posts them on the case page. A notice is treated as received when sent to the email address on file. Each party must keep its address current. A platform that files a case must give Rubicourt accurate contact details for every party.

Rule 13. Filing a claim

A claim must state the parties and their contact details, what happened, the amount claimed, the remedy sought and the agreement to arbitrate, and should include the evidence the claimant relies on. The claimant pays its share of the fee under Appendix A when it files, unless a waiver applies.

Rule 14. Eligibility review

Rubicourt checks that the claim is complete, within the limit in Rule 3, not excluded by Rule 7, and backed by an agreement to arbitrate. It then serves notice of the claim on the respondent. If the claim is not eligible, Rubicourt says why and refunds the fee.

Rule 15. The answer

The respondent's answer is due 14 days after notice. The answer may admit or deny the claim, explain the respondent's side, include evidence, and assert a counterclaim. A respondent that does not answer is treated as denying the claim (see Rule 37).

Rule 16. Counterclaims

A counterclaim must arise from the same transaction or relationship as the claim. It is subject to the claim limit and to the fee schedule. The claimant may respond to it in its reply.

Rule 17. Fast track

If all parties agree, the case runs on the fast track. The answer is due 3 days after notice, replies are due 2 days after the answer, each party has 1 day to correct its summary, the award is due 3 business days after the record closes, and an appeal must be filed within 7 days. Any party may ask to return to the standard track before the answer is filed.

Rule 18. Changing a claim

A party may change or add to its claim or counterclaim before the answer is due. After that it needs the arbitrator's permission, which the arbitrator gives if the change is fair to the other party. A larger claim may require a higher fee.

Rule 19. Qualifications

Every Rubicourt arbitrator is either an attorney admitted in a US state with at least 10 years of practice or a retired judge, and has completed Rubicourt's training on these rules and on Appendix B. Appeal arbitrators have at least 15 years of practice or are retired judges. If no such arbitrator is free of conflicts, Rubicourt assigns another qualified arbitrator who has not worked on the case.

Rule 20. Random assignment

Rubicourt assigns one arbitrator to each case, drawn at random from active panel members who have no conflict with the parties or their representatives. No party, platform or Rubicourt employee chooses the arbitrator.

Rule 21. Disclosure

(a) When assigned, the arbitrator gives the parties a written disclosure. It covers the arbitrator's bar admissions and experience; any relationship with a party, its lawyers or its agents; any earlier Rubicourt case involving a party in the last 5 years; Rubicourt's own contract, if any, with a party or platform in the case; and anything else that could lead a reasonable person to doubt the arbitrator's impartiality.

(b) The duty to disclose continues for the whole case. A new fact is disclosed as soon as the arbitrator learns of it.

Rule 22. Disqualification

(a) Each party may disqualify the assigned arbitrator once, for any reason, within 15 days after the disclosure is sent. Rubicourt then draws a new arbitrator at random, who gives a new disclosure.

(b) A party may also ask Rubicourt to remove an arbitrator for cause at any time, based on a fact it did not know before. Rubicourt decides the request in writing.

(c) No award may be signed while a party's disqualification window is open.

Rule 23. Independence and pay

(a) Each arbitrator is paid the same flat fee per case, whatever the outcome.

(b) Arbitrators are not told how many cases a party brings to Rubicourt, and are never rated or paid on how often they decide for one side or adopt drafted text.

(c) Rubicourt removes an arbitrator from a case only for a conflict, incapacity, misconduct or a successful challenge, and gives the parties written reasons. A replacement is drawn at random.

Rule 24. No private contact

No party or representative may communicate with the arbitrator about the case except through the case page, where every message is visible to all parties.

Rule 25. Documents first

Cases are decided on written filings and documents unless the arbitrator holds a hearing under Rule 30. Each side files one main statement (the claim or the answer) and may file one reply within 7 days after the answer. Each filing may include any evidence the party thinks relevant.

Rule 26. No fixed limits on evidence

There is no fixed cap on how much evidence a party may file. The arbitrator may set reasonable limits on repetitive or irrelevant material. Upload size limits are technical only: a party that cannot upload a file may ask Rubicourt for another way to file it.

Rule 27. Business records

A business party must file, with its first filing, the record of the transaction in dispute and the messages it exchanged with the other party about it. Records sent by a platform through its API are marked as platform records. Any party may challenge whether a record is authentic, and the arbitrator decides the challenge.

Rule 28. Requests for documents

A party may ask the arbitrator to order the other party to produce specific documents. The arbitrator decides the request, considering how important the documents are, how hard they are to produce and the amount in dispute.

Rule 29. Questions from the arbitrator

The arbitrator may ask any party a question or for a document. Answers are due 3 days after the question is posted (48 hours on the fast track). Every question and answer is visible to all parties.

Rule 30. Hearings

(a) If an individual party asks for a hearing at any time before the award is signed, the arbitrator holds one.

(b) The arbitrator may also hold a hearing on a business party's request or on the arbitrator's own initiative, and does so when the outcome depends on whose account of events to believe.

(c) Hearings are held by video, and a party without video may join by phone. They are private. The arbitrator sets a time reasonable for all parties, and the award deadline runs from the end of the hearing.

Rule 31. Summary check

When the reply period ends, the record closes and each party receives a summary of its own filings. The record does not close while a request for documents awaits a ruling or while documents the arbitrator ordered are still due. Each party has 3 days (1 day on the fast track) to correct its summary. A correction may fix how the party's filings are described, but may not add new evidence or arguments. The arbitrator sees every summary and every correction alongside the full record.

Rule 32. Late evidence

After the record closes, a party may file new evidence only with the arbitrator's permission, for good cause, such as evidence that could not have been obtained earlier. The other party may respond to anything admitted late.

Rule 33. Deadlines and extensions

(a) Deadlines are shown on the case page. A deadline that falls on a weekend or US federal holiday moves to the next business day.

(b) Rubicourt grants each party's first request for more time, up to 7 days, if the party asks before the deadline passes. A party that has used its extension, or has missed a deadline, may ask the arbitrator to let it take part late under Rule 37. Rubicourt sends reminders before each deadline.

Rule 34. Applicable law and remedies

The arbitrator applies the law that a court would apply to the dispute and the parties' agreement. For an individual party who lives in California, California law applies to the extent the law requires. The arbitrator may award any remedy a court could award on an individual claim, including damages, restitution, individual injunctive relief, interest, and attorney's fees and costs where the law or the agreement allows them.

Rule 35. Confidentiality

Rubicourt and its arbitrators keep each case confidential, except as the law requires and in the statistics and reports described in Part 12. The parties are free to discuss their own case.

Rule 36. Language and accessibility

Cases are conducted in English. A party may file documents in another language with a translation, and may ask for an interpreter at a hearing. Rubicourt makes reasonable accommodations for any party with a disability.

Rule 37. When a party does not take part

A party that does not answer or file does not lose for that reason alone. The case goes on, and the arbitrator decides on the evidence in the record. A claimant must still prove its claim. A party that missed a deadline may ask the arbitrator to let it take part from that point, which the arbitrator allows if it is fair.

Rule 38. Settlement

The parties may settle at any time. If they ask, the arbitrator records the settlement in a consent award. A case that settles before the arbitrator records decisions under Appendix B qualifies for the refund in Appendix A.

Rule 39. Withdrawal

A claimant may withdraw its claim before the answer is filed. After that, it needs the arbitrator's permission, and the arbitrator decides whether the claim may be filed again. A withdrawn claim does not end a counterclaim.

Rule 40. When the award is due

The arbitrator signs the award within 10 business days (3 business days on the fast track) after the latest of: the record closing, the end of any hearing, and the end of every party's disqualification window under Rule 22.

Rule 41. What the award contains

The award is in writing and signed by the arbitrator. It decides each claim and counterclaim, states any amount awarded, explains the reasons in plain language, cites the parts of the record the arbitrator relied on, states the version of these rules that applied, and includes the statement on AI use required by Appendix B.

Rule 42. Corrections

Within 7 days after the award is sent, a party may ask the arbitrator to correct a clerical, typing or arithmetic error. The arbitrator decides within 7 days. A correction may not change the decision on any issue.

Rule 43. When the award becomes final

The award becomes final when the appeal period in Rule 46 ends with no appeal. An appeal decision is final when it is issued. A final award binds the parties and may be confirmed as a judgment in any court with jurisdiction.

Rule 44. Payment

Unless the award says otherwise, an amount awarded is due 30 days after the award becomes final. The paying party, the receiving party or the platform confirms payment on the case page or through the API. If payment is late, Rubicourt reminds the paying party and tells the receiving party how to enforce the award in court.

Rule 45. Access to awards

Each party can download its award from the case page and the API for at least 5 years. If Rubicourt stops administering cases, it will deliver every award and record to the parties, and a pending case may continue with any successor provider named in the parties' agreement, or in court.

Rule 46. Who may appeal and when

Either party may appeal an award within 14 days after it is sent (7 days on the fast track), by filing a short statement of what it believes the arbitrator got wrong and paying the appeal fee in Appendix A. A case has one appeal.

Rule 47. The appeal arbitrator

Rubicourt assigns a different arbitrator at random under Rule 20, meeting the appeal qualifications in Rule 19. Rule 21 and Rule 22 apply.

Rule 48. Response

The other party may file one response within 7 days after the appeal is filed.

Rule 49. How the appeal is decided

(a) The appeal arbitrator decides the case afresh on the record, the first award, the appeal and the response. New evidence is allowed only if it could not have been filed in the first case.

(b) The appeal arbitrator does not see any summary, draft or other material prepared by the drafting system, and no AI drafting is used in the appeal.

(c) The appeal arbitrator may affirm the award, change it, or replace it with a new award, but may not send the case back. The decision is due within 22 days after the response period ends.

Rule 50. Effect of the appeal

The appeal decision is final and replaces the first award. If the appeal decision changes the outcome or the amount in the appealing party's favor, its appeal fee is refunded.

Rule 51. Fee schedule and invoices

Fees are set by the Fee Schedule in Appendix A for the rules version that applies to the case. Rubicourt sends every invoice in a case to all parties at the same time, with the due date. Fees are flat: there are no hourly charges and no charges for hearings or additional evidence.

Rule 52. Late payment by a business

If a business party does not pay a fee within 30 days after it is due, Rubicourt tells all parties. Where the law gives an individual party the right to withdraw from arbitration and go to court, or to continue in arbitration, Rubicourt follows that party's choice.

Rule 53. No loser-pays

Rubicourt's fees never shift to an individual party because it loses. The arbitrator may require an individual party to pay the other side's share of Rubicourt's fees only on finding that its claim was frivolous or brought to harass. Attorney's fees are awarded only where the law or the agreement allows.

Rule 54. Fee waivers

An individual party whose household income is below 300% of the federal poverty guidelines pays no fees. It confirms its eligibility when it files or answers. The waiver does not reduce the other party's share.

Rule 55. When this part applies

This part applies when 25 or more claims in the same category of dispute are filed within 90 days against the same respondent, or by the same business claimant.

Rule 56. Process arbitrator

Rubicourt may appoint a process arbitrator, drawn at random, to decide shared administrative questions only: whether filings are complete, whether fees have been paid, and scheduling. The process arbitrator does not decide the merits of any claim.

Rule 57. Every claim decided on its own

Each claim is assigned its own arbitrator under Rule 20 and decided on its own record. There are no binding test cases, no claim is held back to wait for others without its claimant's consent, and the per-case fee does not change with the number of claims.

Rule 58. Public statistics and reports

Rubicourt publishes outcome statistics at rubicourt.com/stats, including time to award, appeal and overturn rates, and outcomes by party type. It also publishes, every quarter, the consumer arbitration data California law requires for the previous five years, which names business parties.

Rule 59. Bias audits

Twice a year an independent auditor reviews outcomes and the drafting system as described in Appendix B. Rubicourt publishes each audit report.

Rule 60. Records

Rubicourt keeps each case record, the arbitrator's recorded decisions, every draft and the final award for 5 years after the case ends, and then deletes them unless the law requires otherwise.

Rule 61. Independence of Rubicourt

No party that uses Rubicourt, and no law firm representing such a party, may hold equity, debt or a revenue share in Rubicourt, or serve as its adviser. Rubicourt does not seek new business from a party while that party's California consumer case is pending.

Rule 62. Changes to these rules

Rubicourt publishes any new version of these rules at least 30 days before it takes effect, with a change log. Every version stays online at its own address, such as rubicourt.com/rules/2027.1, so any award can be read against the exact text it applied. Rule 1(c) decides which version applies to a case.