The full library in alphabetical order, across every area of law.
Staff-to-child ratios and maximum group sizes are set by state licensing rules and vary by the age of the children. Both tighten sharply for infants and loosen as children get older. Group size is a separate limit from ratio: adding staff does not lift the cap on how many children may be in one group. Mixed-age groups are generally counted against the requirement for the youngest child present, and ratios must be maintained during naps, meals, outings and transport.
Storage in transit is temporary storage of a shipment between pickup and final delivery, and the carrier's liability under the bill of lading continues through it. Before the storage period expires the carrier must notify the shipper in writing of the conversion to permanent storage, the nine-month claim period that follows, the fact that its liability is ending, and that the goods will fall under a warehouse operator's rules and charges. That notice is due at least ten days ahead.
Federal law does not create a general right to a refund for a change of mind. A retailer's posted policy governs the transaction, and several states require the policy to be conspicuously disclosed before purchase, treating an undisclosed or unposted policy as unenforceable and sometimes requiring a cash refund instead. Separate federal rules give real rights for mail, internet and telephone orders and for certain door-to-door sales.
Summer camps are frequently exempt from child care licensing because of how state definitions treat seasonal and recreational programs. Where a state regulates camps it usually does so through a separate youth camp statute administered by a health department, covering sanitation, water safety, food service, health records and staff screening. Federal law reaches camps through disability access, food program conditions and abuse reporting duties in organized sport.
Private surveillance is lawful when it consists of observing and recording what is visible from a place the observer may lawfully occupy. It becomes unlawful when a device does what the eye could not, when it reaches into a space the subject has closed off, when it is attached to property without consent, or when the following amounts to stalking. Several states make each of those a specific offense and treat a licensee's violation as separate grounds for discipline.
A deposition is oral testimony taken under oath before trial, on written notice to every other party, and recorded by an officer authorized to administer oaths. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30 limits a deposition to one day of seven hours and limits each side to ten depositions without leave of court. Objections are usually stated for the record and the answer is given anyway, with the judge ruling later if the passage is offered in evidence.
Tattooing and piercing are usually regulated by a state health department rather than a cosmetology board. An artist license requires completion of an approved bloodborne pathogen and communicable disease course and, in some states, an examination on it. A separate establishment license covers the premises, is issued per location, expires annually and cannot be transferred. Temporary licenses exist for conventions and guest work, with short fixed terms and their own inspection.
Background checks for child care staff must include a federal fingerprint check, a national sex offender registry search, and state searches of the criminal repository, sex offender registry and child abuse registry in the state of residence and every state lived in during the preceding five years. The registry search catches substantiated agency findings that never became convictions. States must give notice of a disqualifying result and a process for appealing its accuracy.
State health club laws give a buyer a period after signing in which the contract can be canceled without penalty. Florida's baseline is three days excluding holidays and weekends. California gives five business days and extends that to twenty, thirty or forty-five days as the contract price rises through set thresholds. Notice may usually be given in person, by email to an address on file, or by first-class mail, and refunds are typically due within ten days of the notice.
An evidence request sets a response period that cannot exceed twelve weeks, and a notice of intent to deny sets one that cannot exceed thirty days. Officers have no authority to extend either. Service by mail adds three days to the stated period, and a period ending on a weekend or federal holiday runs to the next business day. Failure to answer allows denial as abandoned, denial on the record, or both, and an abandonment denial is not appealable.
An interstate household goods carrier must prepare and issue a bill of lading before receiving the shipment, and it must contain the terms and conditions of the contract. Federal rules list seventeen required items, including the pickup and delivery dates, the form of payment, the maximum demandable at delivery, and the valuation choice. The estimate and the inventory attach to it and become an integral part of the contract, and a copy must travel with the shipment.
Personal care licensing examinations are set in two parts, a written theory paper covering law and sanitation and a practical paper performed on a mannequin or model. A license does not travel by itself. A practitioner moving states applies for licensure by endorsement, and the receiving board decides whether the original training hours, examination and current standing meet its own standard. Where they fall short, the usual remedy is added hours or a re-examination.
