Agency is a fiduciary relationship whereby one party expressly or impliedly authorizes another to work under his or her control and on his or her behalf. The party for whom another acts and from whom such other derives authority to act is a “principal.” The one who acts for and represents the principal and acquires his or her authority from the principal is an “agent.” Pursuant to the grant of authority by the principal, the agent is the representative of the principal and acts for, in the place of, and instead of, the principal.
Any person who is capable of suing and/or being sued in a legal proceeding in his own name and has capacity to affect his or her legal relationships by giving consent to a delegable act or transaction may authorize an agent to act for him or her with the same effect as if such person were to act in person. Any person has the capacity to act for another. Even if a person has legal disability that his or her contracts are not binding on him or her, s/he may act as agent of another.
The relationship between an agent and a principal is a contractual one. Therefore, rights and duties of the agent and principal are in accordance with the agency contract. To establish an agency, there must be consent of both the principal and the agent, although such consent may be implied rather than expressed.
The written authorization by which principal appoints another as his or her agent and confers upon the agent the authority to perform certain specified acts or kinds of acts on behalf of the principal is the power of attorney. A power of attorney may be general, special, or partly general and partly limited or special. The relationship of principal and agent can be terminated only by the act or agreement of the parties to the agency or by operation of law.
An agent cannot delegate his or her authority and have services performed by a subagent without express permission from principal unless permission can be implied from the nature of the business or custom.