Fee Non-Payment

Non-payment is the bluntest defensive response to a mass filing: decline the invoice, accept administrative closure, and meet the claimants in court where per-claim economics favour the defence. The strategy carries sharply different consequences by jurisdiction. Federal appellate authority has held that a district court lacks power to order a respondent to pay a provider's administrative fees where the incorporated provider rules commit fee disputes to the provider's discretion. California, by contrast, treats late payment in consumer and employment arbitration as a material breach that waives the right to arbitrate and exposes the drafter to mandatory sanctions.