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.

Types of agency

• Universal agency provides broad authority for agent to act on behalf of principal.
• General agency limits agent authority to a particular type of transaction or business; agent may bind principal.
• Special agency is also called "limited agency"; agent is not able to bind principal.