Yes. Store the hearing date in a date field on the contact, and a Custom Date Reminder trigger in GoHighLevel sends texts before that date, without anyone having to remember. The bottom line: research on court reminders supports a 7, 3, and 1 day schedule, and the safe wording gives only the date, time, and place the attorney has confirmed.
What the evidence shows
A New York City randomized trial found that text reminders cut failures to appear from a control mean of 38 percent by 8 to 10 percentage points, a 21 to 26 percent reduction, and the messages went out 7 days, 3 days, and 24 hours before court. A Santa Clara County trial of 5,709 public defender clients used the same schedule and, according to its authors, found that automated reminders reduce pretrial incarceration for missed court dates. Those studies involve criminal summonses and public defender clients, so a family law firm should treat them as evidence that reminders work for court dates in general and measure its own results.
How Custom Date Reminder works
GoHighLevel's Custom Date Reminder page says the trigger fires before, on, or after a date, that in contact based workflows you can choose supported contact date fields and supported opportunity date fields, that it does not fire for a contact whose date field is empty, and that a workflow can hold two triggers, one before and one after the date. It also describes a Match on the year option for reminders that repeat every year, so read that setting's description in your account and test it with a real date field.
Because the trigger does not fire for a contact whose date field is empty, a hearing that has not been set sends nothing, and a rescheduled hearing needs the date field updated so the reminders follow the new date.
What the message says
| Say | Do not say |
|---|---|
| Reminder from the firm: your hearing is on [date] at [time] at [courthouse] | The case type, the issue, or the other party |
| Please call [number] if this date is not on your calendar | What to say to the judge |
| Reply C to confirm you got this | Any advice about custody or support |
| The reminder comes from the date on file with our office | A guarantee that the date has not changed |
Build it in GoHighLevel
- Create a date custom field called Hearing date, and a text field for Court and time.
- Have the paralegal fill both fields when a hearing is set, and update them when it moves.
- Build a workflow with the Custom Date Reminder trigger set to 7 days before Hearing date, and duplicate it for 3 days and 1 day before.
- Send a text with the date, time, and court, and ask the client to reply to confirm.
- Add a task for the attorney if a client has not confirmed 3 days before.
- Add an If/Else so a client tagged Hearing passed does not get the reminder.
Worked example
For example, a firm with 60 active family cases and about 2 hearings a case a year sends 360 reminder texts (60 times 2 hearings times 3 reminders). If reminders prevent even 3 missed hearings a year, each one worth an emergency motion, the workflow pays for itself.
Mistakes to avoid
- Not updating the date field. The reminder follows the field.
- Giving the case type in the text. Others may read it.
- Treating the text as the official notice. The court's notice controls.
- Reminding after the hearing. Tag the contact when it passes.
How this was handled before
Paralegals kept a calendar and called clients before hearings. That works until a paralegal is out or a date moves. Court reminder programs and trials moved to text messages once studies showed they reduced missed dates.
What to measure after launch
Track hearings with a date on file, reminders sent, confirmations, and missed hearings. Audit the date field against the court calendar every week.
Check before you switch it on
US text messages sent from a standard 10 digit number need A2P 10DLC registration. The HighLevel support portal says registration is required for texts to US recipients from 10 digit long code numbers and that toll free numbers do not require it. HighLevel's opt in guidelines also say a person cannot be forced to agree to text messages in order to submit a form, so keep the consent box optional. One compliance guide separates informational texts, which need documented consent, from marketing texts, which need prior express written consent. Ask your attorney which category your reminders fall into. A reminder is information about a client's own matter, but keep it generic and confirm with counsel whether your state's rules on client communications add anything. This is general information, not legal advice.
Questions people ask
Does the reminder fire if the date field is empty?
No. GoHighLevel's page says the trigger does not fire for contacts with an empty date.
What schedule did the research use?
Texts 7 days, 3 days, and 24 hours before the court date, in the New York and Santa Clara trials.
Is the reminder legal advice?
No, if it gives only the date, time, and place on file. Keep it generic.
Ready to try it yourself? Start a GoHighLevel account here.
You can also see this in action in our GoHighLevel capabilities demo.