General Business Law

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a government agency charged with enforcing the OSH Act of 1970, which specifies safety requirements for employers in all industries...

A trade name is a word or phrase often used to designate a business name, but is not technically a trademark. The purpose of trade name registration is to allow individuals who own a business to...

When seeking to establish a business, one must make various evaluations and considerations. One of these issues includes the type of business form such as the LLC or PC.

The Mutual Recognition Procedure (MRP) is a procedure used by pharmaceutical manufacturers who have been granted a marketing authorization for selling pharmaceuticals in one European Union (EU)...

Under Virginia law, a bail bondsman is any person licensed by the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to engage in the business of bail bonding. The possession of such a license...

Many persons who are faced with the prospect of a long court case in a personal injury suit as opposed to a quick settlement amount offered by the insurance company wonder how to estimate personal...

If you or someone close to you has suffered a personal injury you may be wondering how to find a good personal injury law attorney. It’s not unusual that people can go most of their lives having...

A Board of Directors refers to a group of individuals elected to make decisions on behalf of an organization. This governing body can also be referred to as a Board of Trustees or Executive Board.

Partnerships are a legal form of business organization where two or more partners come together to form a business. Partnership financial statements differ from financial statements of...

Indonesia consists of two principal types of charitable not-for-profit organizations--foundations and associations. However, according to the United States International Grantmaking (USIG) Council...

An LLC is a business entity that combines the features of general partnerships and corporations. It is created by filing Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State. The rights and duties...

I was visiting a friend in his furniture warehouse about 100 yards from the MGM-Grand on this day. We were eating tuna fish sandwiches when we heard the sirens. Lot's of sirens. Ignoring it for...

Under the law, a lien is when you make a claim on property to obtain payment for goods or services that were provided. In the U.S., businesses use liens to collect amounts due, with the law...

Mechanic's liens are common in most states. Generally, mechanic's lien statutes authorize individuals or companies who performed labor in connection with improving real property (i.e....

If you are interested in using a master agreement for your business, you should consult a lawyer before signing a final draft, or investigate standard master agreements available online for little...

Two types of property ownership--tenants in common and tenants by the entirety--are distinctions that will affect how a property may be distributed as an estate. Tenancy in common is a concurrent...

Illegal monopolies are business combinations that have gained total control over the production, sale and distribution of specific goods or services. In general, a single company buys up its...

COMAR is an acronym meaning The Code of Maryland Regulations, and should not be confused with statutes that are passed by legislatures and written into law. Regulations are often adopted, amended...

When you buy a product that says it was "Made in the USA," you rightly assume the statement is accurate. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sets standards to ensure that manufacturers don't...

Ad valorem tax is a tax placed upon the value of real estate or personal property. Ad valorem is a Latin term meaning "according to value." This type of tax can be assessed on the item at the...

In the world of e-commerce, an electronic signature is a person's cyber-bond. But is an e-signature actually as valid as one done in ink on paper? In 2000, the U.S. government decided that it is...

By “employee leasing” a business obtains the services of employees from an employee-leasing company. But there is a hidden income-tax benefit in employee leasing. Employee leasing can be used to...

A clawback provision is contractual language that used in writing performance-based compensation contracts. It allows a company to take back such compensation if future events show that some or...

If you wish to create a contract on your own, you can use several online sources for design inspiration. For instance, downloading a contract template can assist you in setting up the contract and...

You want a good working relationship with your colleagues, but you don't want to risk the leaking of confidential information. A nondisclosure agreement enables you and a colleague to share...

Child labor laws were established by the federal government to restrict the age that children can work in various jobs and it establishes the standards for the working at any employer. Under the...

A tax identification number, or Employer Identification Number (EIN), is the nine-digit identifier given to a business in the United States. It is assigned by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)....

If you are looking to open a new bar or liquor store you will need to obtain the appropriate licenses in order to not only operate your business, but to sell liquor. Your best resource for...

With the recent turmoil in the mortgage market in 2009, loan "modification" has become a hot career field. A modification changes the terms of a home mortgage, helping people in financial...

A gentlemen's agreement is an informal agreement between two parties.

An employer identification number (EIN) is assigned to a company or employer by the IRS. Much like the way a Social Security number identifies an individual, an EIN can be used to identify an...

The state of California has a law that pertains to the expiration date of a gift card or gift certificate that is issued by a retailer. The law is known as SB250, which amends section 1749.5 of...

The U.S. Department of Labor defines a sweatshop as a factory that violates more than one of the U.S. labor laws, such as paying minimum wage, paying overtime, paying on time, and maintaining time...

Due diligence refers to the process of exhaustively investigating a company's status prior to a major transaction. Due diligence occurs prior to an Initial Public Offering (IPO), the purchase of a...

Contracts are extremely versatile legal instruments. In some cases, even oral contracts are enforceable. Many types of contracts are used in business, many of them specific to a particular...

If your boss or the company you're trying to work for requires you to take a drug test, there's a good chance you have to do it, depending on the laws of the state where you live. But you do have...

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 created new rules for public companies. The legislation was largely a response to accounting scandals associated with Enron and Worldcom that cost investors hundreds...

Private security is a fast-growing industry, with assignments as diverse as walking the beat at a shopping mall to large-scale private armies providing military-level combat support in war-torn...

The establishment of the 40-hour work week was one of the major labor reforms of the 20th century. From those changes came overtime pay law, which requires employers to pay bonuses to those who...

If you're a rank-and-file worker who puts in more than 40 hours a week, you're probably entitled by law to bonus overtime pay. Though many employers are careful to follow overtime-pay law,...

A limited liability company, or LLC, is a hybrid type of corporate entity that includes some of the features of corporations. Thus it's not a coincidence that the two have many similarities. Of...

If you work in a retail store and catch shoplifters for a living, here are some tips to help you catch more.

A Texas Limited Liability Company (LLC) is neither a partnership or corporation. Instead, it is a unique legal entity that combines the advantageous characteristics of both. The LLC structure...

The Mutual Recognition Act of 1992 addresses the abilities of entities to conduct commercial transactions involving goods and services between states within the Australian Commonwealth. The term...

The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is the law of making secured transactions. They apply to many aspects of the sale of goods and equipment, particularly with regard to commercial transactions. The...

Adverse possession is an aspect of real estate law. The fundamental principle of adverse possession relates to one party or individual taking possession of another party or individual's land or...

Although each state establishes its own child daycare licensing laws, all jurisdictions have measures in place to ensure the children's safety while in licensed care facilities. These laws include...

UNICAP (Uniform Capitalization) rules deal with the capitalization of inventory, including certain costs associated with producing, shipping and handling inventory items. The IRS requires that,...

Before you sign any type of contract or legal document, you should take some time to read it so you understand the terms. If there are terms that you cannot agree to, talk to your salesperson...

The symbols ® and ™ are familiar sights, appearing on everything from toys, games and sports equipment to slogans and graphics used in advertisements. Both are intended to protect...