About this course

Demand Letter 101 is a ten-lesson course in business legal basics, written for the owner who never had one. It covers the federal and state rules a small business is most likely to run into, and the letters that arrive when one of them is missed.

Why a course

Most small business owners learn business law one letter at a time, which is the most expensive way to learn it. The ten lessons here cover the ground an owner needs before the first letter: how liability works, what makes a contract, what consumer law requires, how outbound marketing is regulated, what a website and customer data bring with them, how to classify and pay staff, and then what to do when a demand letter or a lawsuit arrives. Marketing compliance and the TCPA demand letter get two lessons because that is the letter small businesses most often receive.

Who it is for

Owners and managers of small businesses in the United States who never had a legal grounding and do not want to pay for one lesson at a time. It assumes no legal background and about an hour.

What it is not

It is not legal advice. It is general legal information about federal law and, where noted, state law. Deadlines, limitation periods, small claims limits and notification timelines vary by state, and the course says so rather than quoting a number that may be wrong for you. It does not tell you which business entity to form or give tax advice. It does not rate, review or recommend law firms, enforcement firms or outcomes.

Sources

Federal statutes cited: the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45; the TCPA, 47 U.S.C. § 227, and the FCC's rules at 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200; CAN-SPAM, 15 U.S.C. §§ 7701 to 7713; ADA Title III, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 and following; the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. § 201 and following; 28 U.S.C. § 1658. State statutes cited: Fla. Stat. § 501.059 and Illinois BIPA, 740 ILCS 14. Cases cited: Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021). Where a page says the law varies by state, it points to the state court or attorney general self-help resources rather than guessing.