L3_Actual Authority 요약영상

Last time, we built the bridge. Now the question is, what can the agent actually carry across it? That's authority, and it's the most tested part of agency. There are four ways an agent can bind a principal. Actual authority, express or implied. Apparent authority. And ratification. Today is actual authority. Here's the key. Actual Authority comes from what the principal tells the agent. The arrow runs from P to A — the agent reasonably believes, from the principal's words or conduct, that the principal wants her to act. That's the Restatement, Section 2.01. The first flavor is Express. These are the principal's own words, spoken or written, telling the agent what she may do. Say a principal writes, sign the lease for the Elm Street office, up to $4,000 a month. The agent signs a lease there for $3,800. That lands squarely inside the circle. And the words are read reasonably, not hyper-literally. An obvious slip doesn't wipe out authority the principal plainly meant to give. Around those words, there's a wider ring. That's implied authority. It comes from the words, the conduct, and the circumstances. And it comes in three kinds. First, incidental. Whatever is reasonably necessary to get the express job done. An agent hired to manage a rental property can hire a plumber when a pipe bursts, even though nobody mentioned repairs. And in a real emergency, she can take reasonable steps to protect the principal. Second, Custom. What someone in that position usually does. Hire someone as a store manager and she can order routine inventory and set staff schedules without a separate instruction for each one. Third, Acquiescence. For six months, the agent signs contracts a little above the cap and the principal accepts every one without a word. That silence teaches the agent something. Similar future signings are now authorized. So how big is the circle? It's set by the agent's reasonable interpretation of what the principal said. That's Section 2.02. Told to insure the shipment, with no amount given, the agent buys standard full value coverage. That reading is reasonable, so it binds the principal, even though no number was ever stated. If the instructions are unclear, the agent should ask. But if she can't, a good faith, reasonable reading still counts as long as it serves the principal's known goals. Now, the payoff. When the agent acts inside the circle, the principal is bound to the third party, just as if she had signed herself. The manager has $10,000 of supply authority and orders $8,000 of goods. The owner has to pay the supplier. And with a disclosed principal, the manager isn't personally on the hook. If he suffers a loss doing authorized work, he's entitled to be indemnified. Two traps. First, implied authority is not apparent authority. Implied actual authority runs from the principal to the agent. Apparent authority runs from the principal to the third party. Different arrow. Second, a job title alone doesn't give full actual authority. A title mostly speaks to outsiders. Actual authority still traces back to what the principal communicated. So express is the principal's words, read reasonably. Implied adds incidental, custom, and acquiescence. Inside the circle, the principal is bound. Don't memorize it, just ask, what did the principal tell the agent?