Agency Flashcards
(23 cards)
Agency
A relationship between two parties where one acts
as a representative of the other for a legal purpose.
Power of Attorney
the authority to act for another person in specified or all legal or financial matters.
Equal Dignity Rule
Equal-dignities rule refers to a legal doctrine requiring an agent to perform all acts authorized by a principal
Agency by Ratification
Agency relationship created when a principal confirms and accepts a purported agent’s unauthorized act.
Agency by Estoppel
A legal principle that bars a party from denying or alleging a certain fact owing to that party’s previous conduct, allegation, or denial.
Agency by Operation of Law
an agency that exists because it will conform to prevalent law that is not because of an agreement between the agent and the principal.
Registered Agent for Corporation/Business
The purpose of a Registered Agent is to provide a legal address (not a P.O. Box) within that jurisdiction where there are persons available during normal business hours to facilitate legal service of process being served in the event of a legal action or lawsuit
Family Purpose Doctrine
a rule that holds the owner of an automobile liable for damages to others while a member of the family is driving the vehicle, regardless of whether or not the owner gave permission.
Duties of Principals to Agents
o Compensation
o Reimbursement and Indemnification
o Cooperation
o Provide a safe work place
Duties of Agents to Principals
o Performance o Notification o Loyalty o Obedience o Accounting
Scope of Agent’s Authority in the World of
Contracts
o Actual Authority – Express and Implied
o Apparent Authority
Expressed Actual Authority
an agent has been expressly told he or she may act on behalf of a principal
Implied Actual Authority
“usual authority”, is authority an agent has by virtue of being reasonably necessary to carry out his express authority.
Partially Disclosed Principal
- one whose agent reveals that he has a principal, but does not reveal the principal’s identity
- the principal and the third party will be liable on contracts the agent makes, and the agent will also generally be liable unless otherwise agreed
Disclosed Principal
- a principal whose identity is revealed to a third party by an agent.
- always liable on the third party contract
- agent is not liable generally.
Undisclosed Principal
- a person who uses an agent for negotiations with a third party who has no knowledge of the identity of the agent’s principal.
- agent pretends to be acting for himself or herself, and both can be held liable
Liability for Agent’s Torts
An agent is subject to tort liability to a third party harmed by the agent’s conduct only when the agent’s conduct breaches a duty that the agent owes to the third party.
Doctrine of Respondeat Superior
occurs when the agent commits a tort or civil wrong within the scope of employment and the principal is held liable although the principal may have done nothing wrong.
Liabilities are all about facts:
1) the many ways of looking at it
2) coming and going rule/frolic and detour
Frolic and detour
Agents sometimes do things during the course of his or her employment to further their own interests, rather than the principal’s.
Liability of Principal for Intentional
Torts of Agent
a principal is liable for torts only if the servant committed them “in the scope of employment.”
Liability of Principal for Tort of the
Independent Contractor
Independent contractors are personally liable for their own torts (degree of control)
Termination of Agency Relationship
such a relationship can also be brought to an end by mutual agreement between the parties, either in writing or orally.
