When a case moves to a new phase, your client should hear about it. Quilia does that with automations: you write the message for a phase once, and every client whose case reaches that phase gets it. Your team never has to remember to check in.
Step 1: Write a great phase message
Each message should explain where the case stands and what the client should expect. A few best practices:
- Set expectations. Example: "This phase typically lasts 2 to 4 weeks."
- Give next steps. Example: "Please upload any new documents in the Quilia app."
- Use simple, friendly language. Skip the legal jargon and write like you are texting a client.
- Point to helpful Quilia features. Encourage them to upload documents, message the firm, or track progress in the app.
What to put in each phase message
Every phase has its own guide with sample copy, what to cover, what to leave out, and the client worries that message needs to answer. Start there rather than from a blank box.
- Onboarding: who is handling the case, what happens first, and why you promise no dates yet
- Treatment: why every appointment matters, and what to ask the client to log
- Demand: what a demand is, why records take weeks, and the losses only the client can tell you
- Litigation: filing is routine, most cases still settle, and nobody is testifying next week
- Settlement: an offer is not a settlement, and the total is not the take-home
- Case Closure: thank them, tell them what to keep, leave the door open
Quilia filmed a short explainer for each phase, in English and Spanish, free for any firm to use. In the message editor, click Embed video, then Or choose one of our videos. Each guide above also has its video embedded so you can watch it first. Match the video's language to the language of the message it sits in.
Your own videos work the same way: paste any YouTube link into Embed video. Vimeo, Loom and Wistia links cannot be played in the app.
For tone across all of them, see Writing Messages Clients Actually Understand.
Step 2: Set up the automation
A phase message is an automation with three parts: an audience of clients in that phase, a trigger that counts from the phase change, and a message. Your phases come from your case management system, so they already match how your firm works.
- Go to Messaging, then the Audiences tab, and build an audience with the condition Case phase is any of the phase you are writing for (for example, Demand).
- Go to Messaging, then Automations, and click New automation.
- Under Who it goes to, pick the audience you just built.
- Under When it fires, set it to
Send 1 day after the case last changed phase, and choose the hour to send. The hour applies in each client's own timezone. - Under What it does, add Send a message and write your message. Add a tab for each language your clients read, or generate a translation and edit it.
- Under How it reaches them, choose whether to add a text or an email on top of the push notification.
- Click Create automation.
Repeat for each phase you want to message. When a client's case moves into that phase, Quilia sends the message at the hour you picked, usually the next morning.
Automations can do more than the old phase messages could. The same automation can also ask for a score or send a form, and you can count from other dates too, like when the case opened or the incident date. See Building Automations for everything an automation can do.
Sample messages by case type
Here are some examples you can tweak for your firm:
Personal Injury, "Demand" phase
"We're preparing to send a demand for compensation. This process can take some time, but we'll keep you updated on any responses."
Workers' Compensation, "MMI" phase
"Your case is at the stage we call Maximum Medical Improvement, or MMI. It means your doctors expect your condition to stay about where it is now. We will review what that means for your benefits and talk it through with you."