Litigation is the phase clients understand least and fear most. Most people hear it and picture a witness stand. This message exists to replace that picture before someone else supplies it.

When to send this

You set this. One day after the phase changes is the default worth starting from: soon enough to feel connected to what happened, and far enough back that a phase set by mistake can be corrected before anything reaches a client.

Keep this one at a day rather than stretching it. Court paperwork, a notice, or a relative's opinion can reach a client before you do, and whoever explains litigation first sets how they feel about it.

Then consider a second and third off the same phase change. Litigation is the longest, quietest stretch of a case, and a client who hears nothing for four months concludes it stalled. Something at sixty and a hundred and twenty days that just says where things are and that this is still normal does a lot of work for very little.

The phase tells you the firm's bucket, not the docket. A case sitting in litigation may have been filed last month, may be getting filed this week, or may just have reached the litigation team. So "your case is now in the litigation stage" is safe, and "we filed your case in court" is a guess a client will repeat to family.

What your client is thinking right now

"Am I being sued?" "Did something go wrong?" "Do I have to testify?" "Is this going to be in public?"

A client who first learns their case was filed in court from a form letter, a court notice, or a relative will assume the worst. Get there first.

What to cover

This stage is normal. It usually means negotiation did not reach a fair number, so the court is being used to move things along.
Most cases still settle. This is the single most reassuring true thing you can say, and clients almost never know it.
It takes months. Say so now rather than answering it monthly.
They may be asked questions at some point, and you will prepare them thoroughly when that time comes. Naming it early takes the fear out of it.
What stays the same. They keep treating if they are still treating, and the same people stay on their case.

Their job in this phase

Not much changes, which is worth saying. What matters:

Stay reachable, and tell you immediately if their phone number or address changes
Keep off social media about the injury, the case, or anything that looks strenuous
Keep going to appointments if treatment is ongoing
Keep receipts

The social media point deserves its own sentence somewhere in this phase. It is the client behaviour most likely to damage a case and the one they are least likely to think of as relevant.

Sample message

Your case is now in the litigation stage. This is the part of the process that goes through the court. It is a normal step, and it does not mean anything has gone wrong.

It usually means we could not reach a fair number with the insurance company, so we are asking the court to move things along. Most cases still settle without a trial.

This part takes several months. At some point the other side may ask you questions about the accident and your injuries. If that happens, we will sit down with you well beforehand and walk through exactly what to expect. You will not go into anything cold.

Two things help. Please tell us right away if your phone number or address changes. And please do not post about your injury or your case on social media, including photos of activities. Insurance companies do look.

Call [phone] any time.

https://youtu.be/R8pIvFYJ6A4

A shorter version

Your case is now in the litigation stage, the part of the process that goes through the court. That is a normal step, not a setback, and most cases still settle without a trial.

This part usually takes several months. Please tell us if your phone or address changes, and please stay off social media about your injury. Call [phone] with any questions.

Looking ahead

Litigation and settlement talks run in parallel more often than clients expect. A line like "we can still settle at any point along the way, and we usually do" prevents the assumption that filing has locked them into a trial.

What not to say

No undefined vocabulary. "Complaint," "discovery," "interrogatories," "deposition," "docket" and "motion" all need a plain-English gloss in the same sentence or they need to go.
Do not say "we are going to court" unless you mean a trial date exists. Clients hear it as "I testify next month."
No date for anything. Court schedules slip, and a slipped court date costs more trust than a slipped anything else.
Do not oversell it as good news. Filing is neutral. A client who was told it was great news and then waits fourteen months feels misled.

The video

Free for any firm to use.

There is a Spanish cut as well: Fase de Litigio. Match the video's language to the message it sits in.

To embed it, paste the link on a line by itself in the message body, with nothing else on that line.

This is the phase where the video earns the most, because two minutes of calm explanation does more than three paragraphs a worried person will skim.

Key goals

The client understands filing is routine, not a failure
The client knows most cases still settle
The client is not expecting a trial, or dreading one
The client has been told about social media

What to Say in a Litigation Phase Message