Oh brother.
For us in Cali, we have the Contractors State License Board to help inform contractors and consumers on the law. Check out the link and peruse a bit.
http://www.cslb.ca.gov/
In my experience very few contractors but fewer consumers really understand the law pertaining to contracting. Many painful problems can be avoided when one does their homework.
Asking others their opinion, as you are doing here, is a good thing.
Good luck.