Consumer protection refers to the laws designed to aid retail consumers of goods and services that have been improperly manufactured, delivered, performed, handled, or described. Such laws provide the retail consumer with additional protections and remedies not generally provided to merchants and others who engage in business transactions, on the premise that the consumers do not enjoy a sufficient bargaining position with respect to the businessmen with whom they deal and therefore should not be strictly limited by the legal rules that govern recovery for damages among businessmen. The overarching goal is to protect individuals and the interest of the public in general from unfair and misleading activity in business and commerce (such as false advertising and deceptive trade practices) and scams perpetrated by criminals (such as identity theft and pyramid schemes) that harm a substantial number of consumers.
Marshall is an unincorporated village located in the hunt country of northwestern Fauquier County, Virginia. Marshall was originally known as Salem. The town became Marshall after a short-lived incorporation. Marshall is named after John Marshall, the former United States Supreme Court Chief Justice who grew up at Oak Hill in nearby Delaplane. The village is centered along State Route 55 between two exits on Interstate 66. Although Marshall has historically been an agricultural community, its fortuitous designation as one of 5 service districts within Fauquier County, and exclusively within northern Fauquier County, has resulted in a renaissance of business and professional service offerings to the mostly equestrian and agricultural interests in the surrounding region. Marshall is home to the Fauquier Heritage Society, as well as the One Room School House PS17 which was the last one-room schoolhouse in Fauquier County to close in the 1960s. It has been renovated and school groups often visit.