Exam 28: Relationship of Principal and Agent

A gratuitous agent has a duty of loyalty but is not liable for any harm caused by his careless performance.

A fiduciary duty,arising out of a relationship of trust and confidence,is one of utmost loyalty and good faith.

As a general rule,a person may do through an agent whatever business activity he may accomplish personally.

The agent may be subject to liability to her principal for breach of the duty of obedience if she:

What is an independent contractor? Can an independent contractor also be an agent?

Which of the following is correct with regard to the capacity of an agent?

Identify the following parties and relationships. a.Patricia hires Andrew, an attorney, to negotiate a contract to purchase some property. She agrees to pay him $75 an hour for his services, and he agrees to use his own office and secretarial staff to negotiate and draft the agreement. b.Mel owns a retail store. He hires Sarah to work for him as a clerk in the home furnishings department. c.Carl is the general contractor for the construction of a large office complex. Carl hires Ed's Electric Company to do all of the wiring for the building. d.Incellmed Corporation hires Bob as an outside salesman and instructs him to call on customers in a specified territory and to solicit orders for their products. e.Marlin, who is the owner of Marlin's Department Store, hires Melissa as the general manager of his new branch in the Hillridge Mall.

Carl loans Dan $1,500 for Dan's honeymoon.Dan gives Carl his ruby ring as security for the loan and after a year,tells Carl he may as well sell it to recoup the $1,500.When Dan's wife hears of this,she persuades Dan to call Carl and get back the ring.Can Carl sell it anyway?

The capacity to act through an agent,depends on the capacity of the agent to do the act.

Because the authority given to an agent by a principal is strictly personal,an individual agent's death terminates the agent's actual authority.

E-Sign specifically excludes:

Since the agency relationship is created by agreement,the agency relationship may be terminated at any time by mutual agreement of the principal and the agent.

By the operation of law,the occurrence of certain events will automatically terminate an agency relationship.

An agent's duty to inform:

The fiduciary duty of an agent has no bearing upon his ability to act on behalf of a competitor of his principal.

An agency agreement must always be in writing.

Jones,an agent of Rossi,is authorized to sell Rossi's ownership of wheat on the commodities market on Monday.On Monday,however,the market opens with the lowest prices for wheat in two decades.Jones must go ahead and sell Rossi's wheat on Monday.

Prentice and Mercedes are partners in a catering business.The law of agency:

After an agency terminates,the agent is free to disclose to third persons any information acquired during the agency relationship.

A principal owes to any agent the same duties under tort law that the principal owes to all parties.