How do i deal with collection agencies?

Ok, Back when I was 20 years old(im 26 now) I had 2 credit cards. One from Capital One and another from Chase. Both were small in limit, one was $500 and the other $400. The only reason they went over was because of their fees. So they progressed to like $1200 each, all in fees. Anyway, I've been getting letters for YEARS! from them and collection agencies. Now I got a letter from a local "Law office" and in its reason line it says," RE: Lawsuit filed against you by Capital Alliance Financial LLC for the default on your account, Case # 0".... And in the letter this attorney is offerering his services I guess. So would you say this is a legit letter? What does it mean and how serious is this? And why are they wasting their time on such a small debt from over 6 years ago still? Im clueless when it comes to this stuff. I would like to pay, somehow, and rid myself of this pain in the ***.