BUSINESS LAW CHAPTER 20

E-AGENT

A computer program, electronic, or other automated means used to perform specific tasks without review by an individual

DISCLOSED PRINCIPLE

A principal whose identity is known to a third party at the time the agent makes a contract with the third party.

UNIDENTIFIED PRINCIPLE

A principal whose identity is not known by the third party, but the third party knows that the agent is or may be acting for a principal at the time the contract is made.

UNDISCLOSED PRINCIPLE

A principal whose identity is unknown by a third person, and the third person has no knowledge that the agent is acting for a principal at the time the agent and the third person form a contract.

NOTARY PUBLIC

A public official authorized to attest to the authenticity of signatures.

AGENCY

A relationship between two parties in which one party (the agent) agrees to represent or act for the other (the principal).

POWER OF ATTORNEY

A written document, which is usually notarized, authorizing another to act as one's agent; can be special (permitting the agent to do specified acts only) or general (permitting the agent to transact all business for the principal).

FIDUCIARY

As a noun, a person having a duty created by his or her undertaking to act primarily for another's benefit in matters connected with the undertaking. As an adjective, a relationship founded on trust and confidence.

EXPRESS AUTHORITY

Authority expressly given by one party to another. In agency law, an agent has express authority to act for a principal if both parties agree, orally or in writing, that an agency relationship exists in which the agent had the power (authority) to act in the place of, and on behalf of, the principal.

IMPLIED AUTHORITY

Authority that is created not by an explicit oral or written agreement but by implication. In agency law, implied authority (of the agent) can be conferred by custom, inferred from the position the agent occupies, or implied by virtue of being reasonably necessary to carry out express authority.

APPARENT AUTHORITY

Authority that is only apparent, not real. In agency law, a person may be deemed to have had the power to act as an agent for another party if the other party's manifestations to a third party led the third party to believe that an agency existed when, in fact, it did not.

RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR

In Latin, "Let the master respond." A doctrine under which a principal or an employer is held liable for the wrongful acts committed by agents or employees while acting within the course and scope of their agency or employment

EQUAL DIGNITY RULE

In most states, a rule stating that express authority given to an agent must be in writing if the contract to be made on behalf of the principal is required to be in writing.

VICARIOUS LIABILITY

Legal responsibility placed on one person for the acts of another.

INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR

One who works for, and receives payment from, an employer but whose working conditions and methods are not controlled by the employer. An independent contractor is not an employee but may be an agent.

RATIFICATION

The act of accepting and giving legal force to an obligation that previously was not enforceable.