agency

Actual authority is an agent's power to act on behalf of a principal because such power was expressly or impliedly conferred. Express actual authority is when a principal directly tells the agent that they have the authority to take certain action.

Agency law is a common law doctrine controlling relationships between agents and principals. A principal-agent relationship is created when the agent is given authority to act on behalf of the principal.

An agency shop is a place of employment in which full membership in a union is not required, but the union acts as an agent for the employees. Both union members and non-union members must pay periodic union dues and initiation fees whether they join or not since it is presumed that any collective bargaining on the part of the union will benefit b

• labor law

An agent is a person authorized to act on behalf of another person. The party an agent is authorized to act for is known as the principal. A principal-agent relationship can either be intentionally created or created by implication through one’s actions. 

For further information, see Agency Law. 

See: agent for service of process

[Last reviewed in March of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]

• llcs-corporations-partnerships

An agent for service of process is the person designated by a business entity, such as a corporation or limited liability company (LLC), to receive legal documents and lawsuits on behalf of the business entity within

• llcs-corporations-partnerships

Apparent authority is the power of an agent to act on behalf of a principal, even though not expressly or impliedly granted. This power arises only if a third party reasonably infers, from the principal's conduct, that the princip

• business law
• corporations
• AGENCY LAW
• Agency
• fiduciary duty
• FIDUCIARY LIABILITY
• fiduciary relationship

“Arm’s length” is an expression commonly used to refer to transactions in which two or more unrelated and unaffiliated parties agree to do business, acting independently and in their self-interest. In transactions “at arm’s length,” the parties involved should have equal bargaining power and symmetric information, leading the parties to agree upon fair market terms.

• lawsuits-court
• business-llcs-corporations
• buy-sell-business

According to 15 U.S. Code § 9401, artificial intelligence is defined as “a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations or decisions influencing real or virtual environments.”

An attorney-in-fact is an agent authorized to act on behalf of another person but not necessarily authorized to practice law; e.g., a person authorized to act by a power of attorney.