📜 Consumer Legal Self-Help: Demand Letters, Deadlines & Contracts

A practical, no-jargon guide to handling everyday disputes, recovering money owed, reading contracts, and knowing exactly when you can solve it yourself and when you truly need a lawyer. The course is organized into 11 modules, ending with a final exam (pass mark 80%). It is independent, free exam-preparation training — not an official or accredited review course.

What you'll learn

• How Everyday Legal Disputes Actually Work
• Reading a Contract Without a Law Degree
• The Four Red-Flag Clauses to Hunt For
• Deadlines That Can End Your Case: The Statute of Limitations
• Writing a Demand Letter That Gets Results
• Building Evidence and a Paper Trail
• How Small-Claims Court Works
• What Lawyers Cost: Fee Structures Explained
• Finding and Vetting the Right Lawyer
• Negotiating, Settling, and Getting It in Writing
• DIY or Lawyer Up? Knowing When to Stop

Learning objectives

• Read a contract clause by clause and spot the four high-risk traps: auto-renewal, unilateral change, liability waivers, and forced arbitration.
• Determine the filing deadline for a claim using the statute of limitations by claim type and jurisdiction — and recognize what restarts or pauses the clock.
• Write a clear, dated, legally effective demand letter that documents the dispute and creates leverage to settle.
• Build a clean evidence file and paper trail that holds up if the dispute escalates.
• File and present a small-claims case: limits, fees, service of process, and what to say to the judge.
• Compare attorney fee structures — hourly, flat, and contingency — and estimate the realistic cost of a case.
• Find, vet, and hire the right lawyer, and recognize the moment self-help should stop.
• Use the AMAADOR self-help tools (demand-letter generator, statute-of-limitations checker, fee calculator, contract scanner, find-a-lawyer) with real understanding.