exam 2 chpater 404-420 Flashcards
most imoprtant and pervasive legal relationships is
agency
a relationship between two parties in which one party( the agent) agrees to represent or act for the other
agency
in a relationship between two parties, one of the parties is called the
agent
the _______has the right to control the agent’s conduct in matters entrusted to the agent
principal
defines agency as “the fiduciary relation which results form the manifestation of conesent by one person to antoher that the other shall act in his behalf and subject to his control, and consent by the other so to act
section1 restatement of agency
person having a duty created by his or her undertaking to act primarily for another;s benefit in matters connected with the undertaking. as as adjective, a relationship founded on trust and confidence
fiduciary
normally all employees who deal with third parties are deemed to be
agents
independent contractors are not employess because by deifntion
those who hire them have no control over the details of their physical performance
employers are required to pay certain taxes, such as social security and unemployment insurance taxes, for employes but not for
independent contractors
1.if an employee can exercise considerable control over the details of the work , this would indicate employee status
2.Does the person do a job or run a business that’s different from what the employer does? If yes, they’re likely seen as an independent contractor, not an employee.
3.Is the work usually done under the employer’s direction or by a specialist without supervision?if yes, then employee
determining whether a worker has the status of an employee or an independent contractor
workers may benefit from having employee status
for tax purposes
established its own criteria for determining whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee
internal revenue service (IRS)
the IRS established its own rule to see if a worker is independent or employee which is
the determination of the degree of control the business exercises over the worker
the IRS closely scrutinize a firm’s classificaiton of its workers because,
employers can avoid certain tax liabilities by hiring independent contractors instead of employees
under the copyright act of 1976, any copyrighted work created by an employee within the scope of her or his employment at the request of the employer is a
work for hire and the employer owns the copyright to the work
agency relationships are normally considered
consensual
agency relationships typically come about by
voluntary consent and agreement between the parties
a person must have contractual capacity to be a
principal
two reasons where agency agreements must be in writing
- If the agent is allowed to make a contract that the law says must be written down (like for big deals), then the agent’s authority from the principal also has to be written down. This is called the “equal dignity rule.”
2.the power of attorney, which conferes authority to an agent, must be in writing
an agency relationship can be created for
any legal purpose
most agency relationships are based on
expressed or implied agreement that the agent will act for the principal and the principal agrees to have the agent to act
if the principal affirms that contract by word or by action, an agency relationship is created by
ratification
ratification involves a
question of intent
intent can be expressed by either
words or conduct
when a principal causes a third person to believe that another person is his or her agent, the third person deals with the supposed____, the ____ is “estopped to deny” the agency relationship
-agent
-principal
once the principal-agent relationship has been created
both parties have duties that govern their conduct
in a fiduciary relationship, each party owers the other the
duty to act with the utmost good faith
generally, the agent owes the principal five duties
- performance
2.notification
3.loyalty - obedience
5.accounting
a gratuitous agent cannot be liable for
breach of contract, bc there is no contract
gratuitous agent can be liable for
tort liability
the duty to act solely for the benefit of his or her principal and not in the interest of the agent or a third party
loyalty
principal also owes certain duties to the agent which are
compensation, reimbursement, indemnification, cooperation, and safe working conditions
An agent’s authority to act can be either
actual or apparent
authority declared in clear, direct, and definite terms
express authoirty
rule requiring that an agent’s authority be in writing if the contract to be made on behalf of the principal must be in writing
equal dignity rule
the equal dignity rule does not apply when an agent acts in the presence of a
prinicple or when the agent’s act of signing is merely automatic
giving an agent a power of attorney confers
express authority
authorization for another to act as one’s agent or attorney in either specified circumstances or in all situations
power of attorney
a public official authorized to attest to the authenticity of signatures
notary public
power of attorney can be
special or general
when the principal causes a third party to believe that the agent has authority, even though she or he does not
apparent authority
ratification occurs when the principal affirms an agents
unauthorized act
principals can be considered three different types of disclosed:
disclosed, partially disclosed, or undisclosed
liability for contracts formed by an agent depends on how the
principal is classified and whether the actions of the agent were authorized or unauthorized
principal whose identity is known to a third party at the time the agent makes a contract with the third party
disclosed principal
Principal whose identity is unknown by a third party, but the third party knows that the agent is or may be acting for a principal at the time the agent and the third party form a contract
partially disclosed principal
principal whose identity is unknown by a third party, and that person has no knowledge that the agent is acting for a principal at the time the agent and the third party form a contract.
undisclosed principal
agency law is similar to contract law that both an agency and a contract can be termined by
an act of the parties or by operation of law
for an agent’s apparent authority to be terminated
third persons may also need to be notified that the agency has been teminated
a doctrine under which a principal or an employer is held liable for the wrongful acts committed by agents or employees while acting within the course and scope of their agency or employment
respondeat superior
indirect liability imposed on a supervisory party for the actions of a subordinate because of the relationship between the two parties
vicarious liability
entrepreneurs primary motive for undertaking a business enterprise is to make
profits
question faced by anyone who wishes to start a business is
what form of business organization to use
three major forms to structure business enterprises:
sole proprietorship, the partnership, and corporation
The simplest form of business organization, in which the owner is the business
sole proprietorship
more than 2/3 of all US business are
sole proprietorships
major advantage of sole proprietorships
has right to recieve all profits
arises from an agreement, express or implied, between two or more persons to carry on a business for profit
partnership
prove the existence of a partnership:
sharing both profits and losses
modern law DOES treat partnership as
an aggregate of the individual partners rather than as a separate legal entity in one situation
a business entity that has no tax liability
pass-through entity
tax return submitted by a partnership that only reports the business’s income and losses
information return
agreements to form a partnerships can be
written, oral, or implied by conduct
written agreement that sets forth each partner’s rights and obligations with respect to the partnership
articles of partnership
common terms included in a partnership agreement
basic structure, capital contributions, sharing of profits and losses, management and control, dissociation and dissolution
partnership liability imposed by a court on persons who have held themselves out to be partners, even though they were not and others have detrimentally relied on their representations
partnership by estoppel
the rights of partners in a partnership relate to the following areas
management, interest in the partnership, compensation, inspection of book, accounting and property
in a general partnership, all partners have equal rights in
managing the partnership
unless the partners agree otherwise, each partner has one vote in management matters regardless of
the proportional size of his or her interest in the firm
the majority rule controls decisions in ordinary matters connected with partnership business
unless otherwise specified in the agreement
an accounting of partnership assets or profits is required
to determine the value of each partners share in the partnership
property acquired by a partnership is the property of the partnership and not of the
partners individually
partnership property is owned by the partnership as an entity and not by
the individual partners
in a partnership law, an order granted by a court to a judgmenet creditor that entitles the creditor to attach a partner’s interest in the partnership
changing order
Duties and liabilites of partners are derived from
agency law
each partner is a ____ of the partnership in carrying out the usual business of the firm
general agent
The diuciary duties a partner owes to the partnership and to the other partners are the
duty of care and duty of loyalty
Under the UPA, a partner’s duty of care involves refraining from
grossly negligent or reckless conduct, intentional misconduct, or a knowing violation of law