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...
agency
agency
Agency law is the common law doctrine controlling relationships between agents and principals. A principal-agent relationship is created when the agent is given authority to act for the principal. An agreement made by an agent is binding on...
agency shop
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...
agent
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...
agent for acceptance of service
See: agent for service of process
[Last updated in March of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]
agent for service of process
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 the state in which the...
apparent authority
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 principal granted...
arm's length
“Arm’s length” is an expression which is 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”,...
artificial intelligence (AI)
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.”...
attorney-in-fact
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. Therefore an attorney in fact, which is not necessarily a...