As the founder and leader of an employment law firm, Attorney Josh Van Kampen approaches litigation as a life-or-death situation — and losing isn’t an option.

There are three phases to the litigation process: the lawsuit, the discovery phase, and the trial.

In the first of this three-part series on litigation, employment lawyer Josh covers everything you need to know about filing your lawsuit, starting with the most important part: the unconventional (yet highly effective) way he approaches writing the complaint's introduction.

"We write our introductions like an opening statement to a jury. So we figure out what our theme is early and we hit that theme, literally in the first paragraph of the complaint, and we'll hit that theme all the way through to the jury trial, if we get there," Josh says.

Once the introduction has been written, it's time to file your lawsuit. Here, you have a choice between filing in a federal or a state courthouse, both of which have their pros and cons.

Josh compares taking a pro se approach (sans attorney) and the times when you really want an attorney's expert opinion and know-how. That might be for instances like knowing how jury pools are pulled and which state judges might favor corporations over sympathizing with the individual's case.

After the lawsuit has been filed with the appropriate court and the summons have been served, it's time for the employer to send their response.

While lawsuit filing isn't the most exciting part of the process to Josh — he prefers the discovery phase — this phase can make or break your lawsuit.

As a highly experienced employment lawyer, Josh's step-by-step process to filing your lawsuit ensures you won't miss anything and the process runs smoothly.

Name: Josh Van Kampen

What he does: As the founder and leader of employment law firm Van Kampen Law, Josh Van Kampen settles employment disputes with fearlessness and unparalleled client advocacy.

Company: Van Kampen Law, PC

Words of wisdom: "We really approach litigation as a life-or-death sort of situation for our clients — losing is not an option."

Where to find Josh: LinkedIn | Twitter

Lessons learned on this episode

★ Write your complaint introduction like an opening statement to a jury — Josh says that writing a good introduction is the most important thing you can do, as it sets the theme for the lawsuit and ensures anyone reading it is fully informed of the situation by page two. It's a bit of an unconventional method approach to writing complaints — which are usually written as dense legal prose rather than an engaging narrative — but it really helps frame the entire lawsuit.

★ Your lawsuit is likely better off in a state courthouse than a federal one — This all depends on the state you live in but according to Josh, "most lawyers, probably even nine out of 10, tell you that you're better off in the state courthouse than you are in a federal courthouse." Why? It mainly has to do with judges, as some may be more...