In agency law authority refers to the power given by the principle to the agent. Authority gives the agent permission to act on behalf of the principle and negotiate with third parties. However, there are two types of authority: Actual authority, and apparent authority.
Actual authority occurs when the agent believes his actions are within the scope of power he was given by the principle. There are two types of actual authority: express authority, and implied authority. Express authority is created when the principle and agent enter into a written or oral agreement that grants an agent the authority to perform an act. Many contracts will clearly define what constitutes direct authority within the contract. Implied authority refers to the agent’s authority to act on behalf of the principle in situations that are not clearly defined by express authority. If the agent feels an act is necessary to accomplish his express responsibilities he can do so under the law even if he was not explicitly told to do so. Anything that is determined to have fallen too far outside of the agent’s scope of responsibilities is considered an “ultra vires”. Finally, in contrast to actual authority there is the situation of apparent authority. This occurs when the principle leads a third party to believe that someone has more authority than they actually do. If the third party then negotiates with this person the principle could be held responsible because they misled the third party.
Authority is of extreme importance in agency law. Agents must be careful to act within the limits of their power at all times, while principles must take care not to imply authority in situations where there is none.
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The NFL files charges against the labor board for “failing to confer in good faith.” If the two sides are struggling to even reach the bargaining table for discussion then a lockout looks more and more likely. In the past labor stoppage have shown to have a serious negative impact on fan perception of the sport and can irrevocably damage business.
