Agency (law)

Agency is an area of law dealing with a contractual or quasi-contractual relationship between at least two parties in which one, the principal, authorizes the other, the agent, to represent her or his legal interests and to perform legal acts that sometimes bind the principal. The agent sometimes has a fiduciary relationship with and is under a legal duty to act in the best interests of the principal. An agency can be expressly created for various purposes by contract or appointment, but it can also be implied from the conduct of the parties. Both an "attorney-in-fact" and an "attorney at law" are agents. In the former the agent is given a "power of attorney" also known as a mandate in civil law jurisdictions.

Agency relationships

Agency relationships are common in many professional areas.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• employment procurement (modelling agency)
• real estate transactions (real estate brokerage, mortgage brokerage). In real estate brokerage, the buyers or sellers are the principals themelves and the broker or his/her salesperson who represents each principal is his/her agent.
• financial advice (insurance agency, stock brokerage, accountancy)
• contract negotiation and promotion (business management) such as for publishing, music, movies, theatre, show business and sport.

The negotiation of entertainment and sports deals and in many day to day transactions where one person (the "agent") is allowed to stand in for another individual to fulfill their wishes. Models, actors, and athletes have agents who secure opportunities and benefits for them. In publishing an agent acts for an author to sell their manuscript. Publishers often pay greater attention to manuscripts submitted by an agent than directly (via the slush pile).

Related Topics:
Entertainment - Sport - Publishing - Manuscript - Slush pile

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Agents can represent the interests of one party, or they may represent the interests of several, conflicting or potentially conflicting parties. In the case of such dual agency the agent must either disclose information received by one party to the other or act in a limited agency capacity to prevent a situation where the agent's loyalty to the multiple principals is compromised.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~