In a principal-agent relationship, the principal gives the agent authority to act on behalf of the principal, and to bind or obligate the principal to contracts and other legal obligations, as permitted by the scope of the agency (authority). An agent’s authority may be sufficient to bind or obligate the principal if the authority was expressly given to the agent (actual authority), or if it was implied to other persons that the agent had authority to act on behalf of the principal (apparent authority)—such as by the principal’s adoption of the agent’s prior actions on behalf of the principal.
