Exam prep · Free college course
A complete Business Law I and legal environment of business course, built on two open textbooks (OpenStax Business Law I Essentials 2e and Business Law and the Legal Environment from Saylor Academy) and checked against current US law. It starts with where law comes from, the courts, jurisdiction and litigation, arbitration and mediation, business ethics, the Constitution's commerce and speech clauses, and administrative agencies (including the 2024 end of Chevron deference). It then covers crimes and torts, negligence and product liability, and the full contract sequence: offer and acceptance, consideration, capacity, legality, genuine assent, the statute of frauds, third-party rights, performance, breach and remedies, followed by UCC Article 2 sales, title, risk of loss and warranties. The last units cover agency, partnerships, LLCs and corporations, securities regulation, employment and labor law, antitrust, the FTC and consumer protection, property and intellectual property, and international business law. Many cards are short fact patterns that ask which rule decides the case. The course teaches US law at the majority rule for study; it is not legal advice.
Copied straight from the course. In the app, each wrong option also gets its own explanation.
Card 1Ana writes an email offering to sell her car to Ben for 5,000 dollars but never sends it. That day Ben, unaware of the draft, emails Ana: "I will buy your car for 5,000 dollars." Is there a contract?
No; Ana never communicated her offer to Ben. An offer must be communicated. Ben's email is an offer that Ana may now accept or reject.
Card 2Jack threatens to smash the windows of Olson's showroom unless Olson buys back the car Jack bought there, at the full price Jack paid. Olson agrees. The price is fair. What is the status of the buyback?
Voidable by Olson for duress. A threat to commit a tort or crime is improper, so the buyback is voidable for duress even though the terms are fair.
Card 3Ana sells Ben a cow that both believe is barren, at a price suited to a barren cow. Before delivery, the cow turns out to be pregnant and worth about ten times as much. Can Ana avoid the sale?
Yes; both erred about a basic assumption. As in Sherwood v. Walker (1887), a barren cow and a breeding cow are substantially different things, so the mutual mistake went to a basic assumption.
Card 4Dana asks her neighbor Eli to pick up lumber for her at the yard and charge it to her account. Eli agrees and is paid nothing. Is Eli Dana's agent for the purchase?
Yes; an unpaid (gratuitous) agency is valid. An agency is a consensual relationship; a gratuitous agency produces the same legal results as a paid one.
Card 5Tex has no written contract, no union and no handbook promise. A new manager fires him to give the job to the manager's nephew. Under the majority rule, what claim does Tex have?
None; the firing is lawful under employment at will. A bad or unfair reason is not an illegal one; absent an exception, at will lets the employer fire him.
Encodr is a friendly, game-like flashcard app. Spaced repetition schedules every review for you, and the rest keeps you coming back.
Study a little each day to build a streak. A streak freeze forgives a missed day.
Small goals each day, like finishing a set, with a little celebration when you clear one.
Sessions come in bite-size sets of 15 to 25 answers, so there is always a natural place to stop.
Earn XP and level up, then see friends on a daily leaderboard and send them a nudge.
Yes. Create a free Encodr account and all 24 units and 1,474 cards are yours to study, with spaced repetition scheduling your reviews.
OpenStax Business Law I Essentials 2e (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) and Business Law and the Legal Environment v1.0 from Saylor Academy (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0), with statutes, agency rules and Supreme Court decisions checked against primary sources. The cards are rewritten, not copied.
The legal system and courts, dispute resolution, ethics, constitutional and administrative law, criminal law, torts and product liability, contracts from formation to remedies, UCC Article 2 sales and warranties, agency, partnerships, LLCs and corporations, securities, employment and labor law, antitrust, consumer protection, property and intellectual property, and international business law.
The older text dates from 2012, so every statute, threshold and doctrine was checked for later changes, and the cards teach the current rule with its year, for example the 2024 Loper Bright decision ending Chevron deference and the America Invents Act first-inventor-to-file rule.
No. The course teaches US business law as it is taught in a college class, at the majority rule, for study. Rules vary by state and by facts; talk to a lawyer about a real situation.